TAMPA, FL – Temperatures were close to 100 degrees out on the practice fields today at one Buccaneers Place today for the second joint practice between the Tennessee Titans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The heat was definitely was on between the players where five fights broke out during intense scrimmages between the two squads.
The first scuffle was between famed Bucs wide receiver Antonio Brown and Titans cornerback Chris Jackson. Brown complained that Jackson was being held during a rep. The two players continued to argue as temper flared as Brown confronted Jackson, who took his helmet off. Punches were thrown before the fight was broken up by Clayton Geathers.
Bucs training camp intern Louis Murphy pulled Brown off of Jackson. Brown briefly left the practice to cool down before returning.
On the next practice field over, Titans wide receiver Fred Brown and Bucs cornerback Herb Miller tussled during a punt period that went to the ground, with Brown on top for another scuffle that needed to be broken up.
A few moments later, special teams got into it again when Bucs inside linebacker K.J. Britt and Titans linebacker Nick Dzubnar needed to be separated.
“It’s hot, it’s intense and we’re just competitors.” said Bucs cornerback Jamel Dean. “Yesterday I feel like we didn’t play to our standards, so there was a big emphasis on coming out there today.”
Many other Bucs players agreed. They felt like the Titans came out with more intensity in Wednesday’s practice, so they wanted to turn up the heat.
Bucs head coach Bruce Arians said that his starters would not be playing on Saturday and that Thursday would be the time for them to show some effort to the coaching staff. As for the fighting, Coach Arians didn’t seem to see any.
“The fighting? I didn’t see any fighting,” Arians said. “A lot of pushing and shoving. I didn’t see any fists though.” And what about Brown’s punches? “Nah, no. Waving flies.”
“A lot of grown men competing with emotion. Things happen. Just got to protect your brothers,” said Bucs inside linebacker Devin White.
“The intensity was much higher today,” said wide receiver Chris Godwin. “I feel like it always is on the second day of joint practices in the heat like this, tempers did kind of get going, and guys were just competitive.”
The fourth ‘disagreement’ broke out between Titans wide receiver Cam Batson and Tampa inside linebacker Devin White wrestled to the ground, although White said he was merely defending a teammate. Vrabel ran over to try to intervene as teammates surrounded the scrum.
A fifth scuffle came when defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons got into it with Bucs running back Leonard Fournette, whom Simmons wouldn’t let go of, and Bucs center Ryan Jensen retaliated.
The Bucs and Titans face off on Saturday for game two of the 2021 NFL Preseason at Raymond James Stadium.
