Holding joint practices with the Chicago Bears is not for the faint of heart. At least it’s looking that way more and more. Fans probably remember last year when they held a joint practice with the Miami Dolphins. Both Miami players and media called the Bears out for being too physical in drills, delivering hard hits, and constantly going full tackle. Some called it a fake tough guy act. It didn’t take long to realize that the Bears played the same way. They aimed to induce violence in the opponent. The best way to instill that mentality is through practice.
One year later, and not much has changed. The Bears held a joint practice with the Tennessee Titans in Nashville on Thursday. All reports confirmed it was a physical affair, with lots of hitting and chirping. Things finally reached a boiling point when safety Xavier Woods, recently signed by the Bears, laid out Titans wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson. His Tennessee teammates took exception to the hit despite the refs throwing flags immediately, and a brawl ensued. Coaches quickly intervened before it got out of hand.
The Chicago Bears certainly drew the ire of Tennessee.
New Titans head coach Robert Saleh didn’t mince words, calling the hit “cheap” after practice ended. Other players were heated about it. Woods hasn’t commented on the incident yet, nor has head coach Ben Johnson. It remains pretty clear that the Bears remain unapologetic about their approach. The Titans knew going into this practice that Chicago had a reputation for going full speed in drills. If they weren’t up for something like that, they shouldn’t have scheduled the practice.
To their credit, Tennessee did far less whining about it than Miami did last year. That is probably thanks to Saleh. While he may not have appreciated the hit, he has always been a hard-nosed coach. He’d appreciate some proper thumping in practice. In the end, it was good for both teams. The Chicago Bears got to test themselves against another opponent. The Titans got a welcome reminder of the intensity they must display to win this upcoming season.
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This upcoming preseason finale will be interesting.
With two joint practices and a preseason outing under their belt, it feels unlikely that the Bears will play any of their starters on Saturday. The goal now is getting as many guys healthy as possible before they head to Carolina for the opener. That means it will be a backup-fest in Nashville. That is probably fine since the Bears still have several roster battles left to sort out. Final spots at running back, wide receiver, edge rusher, linebacker, and cornerback remain up for grabs.
No doubt Coach Johnson is eager to end on a high note after that frustrating loss in Cincinnati last week. He’ll want more points and fewer penalties. More than anything, he expects everybody to bring their best. Preseason game or not, there is no excuse for giving a second-rate effort. Will Tennessee bring that same energy after what happened at practice? We’ll soon find out.
