WESTFIELD, Ind. — Skirmishes in practice are inevitable, especially in joint practices when there’s no undercurrent of unity to keep things from going too far. But rarely does the temperature rise to the point that the head coach has to get involved like the Bears’ Matt Eberflus and the Colts’ Shane Steichen did early in practice Thursday.
Just as it did the day before, a special teams drill led to arguments between the teams, but this time it mushroomed into a crowd of 50 or so players and interrupted the work. Eberflus sprinted right into the center to break it up.
“I’m OK doing that,” he said. “I’m never backing down from a confrontation. I need to get in there and get them back so it doesn’t escalate. And it helps that I know half the guys over there, so that’s helpful.”
That last line was a reference to Eberflus spending four seasons as the Colts’ defensive coordinator before he took this job.
He was unconcerned with the incidents and said none of them veered into being problematic.
“My parameters are that I don’t want to see anybody punching, slapping, grabbing facemasks,” Eberflus said. “You can talk a little bit, but let’s not go over the line with that.
“That’s going to happen. You’ve got a lot of guys here that are competing for jobs, and they’re competing at the hardest and highest level they can... They’re just trying to make the team.”
The agitating started early in the first practice Wednesday and carried on throughout both practices at Grand Park Sports Campus. There were a few sideline-clearing disputes and a smattering of smaller ones. Unlike games, when players might not see each other the rest of the season, the Bears and Colts got an opportunity to address any grudges from the first practice the very next day.
They’ll take a break from each other Friday before reconvening at Lucas Oil Stadium for a preseason game Saturday. Eberflus indicated he was satisfied with his starters’ work in the joint practices and plans to play his backups extensively.
Despite the various conflicts, the Bears seemed happy with how things went this week. In fact, they viewed the squabbles with the Colts as encouraging and reflective of the mentality they want to take into the season.
“When you’ve got a lot of guys battling and a lot of testosterone, it just happens,” defensive end DeMarcus Walker said. “I love it. It gets the juices flowing, and I’m excited that at least the guys came out healthy.”
Walker knows where the line is, but of course he does. He’s 28 and going into his seventh season, making him one of the most senior players on a very young roster. When confrontation happens in a game this season, he is experienced enough to contain himself. Some of his younger teammates might not have the self-control to avoid costly penalties, as opposed to the consequence-free environment of a practice.
“If it’s something that’s going to get us in trouble, you might say something, but you never want to take that edge away from them,” fifth-year linebacker T.J. Edwards said. “If they’re fired up, I’m all here for it.
“When you’re out here, both teams are chirping. It’s a good time. We’ll make sure everything’s under control at game time.”
Ultimately the games will provide the final verdict on whether that edge is valuable to the Bears. If, as Edwards assured, they can harness it on game days and be nasty but not sloppy, this was the first glimpse of that attitude.
Eberflus has addressed trash talk and quarrels a few times this offseason, and his philosophy seems to be that they’re generally a good thing as long as they don’t lead to injury. He would rather have fierce players and coach them on restraint than need to light a fire under them.
