- Joined:
- Jun 19, 2011
- Posts:
- 32,894
- Liked Posts:
- 25,793
lmao
Tennessee Titans see first fight of training camp
Jul. 27, 2013 11:14 PM | Commen
The first padded practice sparked the first fight of Titans training camp on Saturday, as a scrap between free safety Michael Griffin and wide receiver Michael Preston escalated into a brawl of about 20 players.
It began when Griffin grabbed wide receiver Nate Washington after a pass play. The safety said he was trying to hold the receiver up, but there apparently was some miscommunication because Griffin and Preston soon were trading blows.
Other players swarmed to the fight, which occurred just in front of a fence separating fans from the field.
“It was a little scuffle,” Preston said. “It’s part of football. It’s going to happen sometimes when you’re out there competing against each other on a high level. … Neither one of us wanted to back down. You move on from it and you keep helping each other get better.”
Said Griffin: “The DBs are going to stick up for DBs and receivers stick up for receivers. One thing leads to another. It’s kind of the nature they’re trying to put into us. Stick up for your brotherhood, go out there and play hard and play physical.”
Griffin said the incident probably got out of hand, however.
“There was a trash can over there, and people were falling over, people trying to break it up,” he said. “It didn’t need to get to that.”
Griffin admitted to throwing the first punch, so he told coach Mike Munchak that he was willing to pay all fines that might be handed out.
“I got no problem with that,” Preston said with a laugh.
Munchak’s take on the whole thing: “It was mainly a lot of little guys trying to look tough. They just have to be smarter, that’s all.”
Pollard vs. Hunter: Safety Bernard Pollard spent part of practice blistering rookie wide receiver Justin Hunter’s ears with some choice expletives.
Nothing personal, Pollard said. He was merely trying to get the second-round pick from Tennessee used to the NFL.
“Being a second-round pick … we messing with you,” said Pollard, who was a second-rounder in 2006. “We need you to produce. We want you to produce. This team is expecting you to produce. So I think if we can get into his head now, Sundays will be a lot easier. So that’s our goal, to get our offense as good as possible.”
It appeared Pollard was giving Hunter a hard time about his ability to come across the middle.
“You know, we’re just gonna’ mess with him every time,” Pollard said. “Just draft picks, period, we gonna’ mess with them. We’re gonna’ have fun out there. We understand this is our livelihood, but at the same time it’s still a game. … So if we can try to break him down as much as possible, and at the same time lift him back up, it’ll be all good.”
Hunter said Pollard had been telling him — in so many words — not to come across the middle.
“It’s part of the game,” Hunter said. “You know, you don’t really listen. … But somebody talks to you, you gonna talk back and everything. That’s just being a man and all that, being competitive.”
Schwenke injured: Rookie Brian Schwenke, competing with Fernando Velasco and Rob Turner to be the starting center, left practice early after straining his left hamstring.
“He tried to push through it a little bit,” Munchak said. “When he was pushing off it, he just felt it wasn’t quite right, so we took him out. We don’t think it’s anything serious in that way, just more something that’s part of this time of year.”
Munchak said Schwenke probably would be held out of practice on Sunday. The Titans are off on Monday.
Sensabaugh surge: Coty Sensabaugh quietly took control of the nickel cornerback position in the offseason, but he’s made plenty of noise early in training camp.
The second-year pro had interceptions in each of the first two practices. At this point, it would be a surprise if he didn’t keep the job.
“He just keeps getting better,” Munchak said. “This gives him a chance, not just at nickel but a chance to compete at corner with the rest of them. He’s done well; he does great things.”
Old school: In honor of the franchise’s 15th anniversary as the Titans, players will wear navy-blue jerseys for two games this season.
The Titans wore navy blue during their early seasons in Tennessee, but they haven’t worn them since 2008, when they switched to light blue as the primary home jersey.
The Titans will wear navy against the 49ers (Oct. 20) and Jaguars (Nov. 10).
Contributing: Jim Wyatt. Reach John Glennon at 615-259-8262 or jglennon@tennessean.com.
