Teammates fighting during training camp isn’t unusual, but one player has taken the fighting too far.
Saints rookie offensive lineman Trevor Penning was kicked out of practice Wednesday for fighting on three straight practice days. Coach Dennis Allen says the team needs to keep its composure to get better in practice.
“We don’t have time for that,” Allen said, via ESPN’s Katherine Terrell. “I sent two guys in today, and we’ve got to get our work done. We’ve got to learn as a team how to compete and how to play and how to practice and push ourselves to the limit but yet not take it over the edge.
“It’s not unusual for something like that to occur in training camp. It’s certainly something we don’t want to see happen. It’ll be addressed, and we’ll move forward.”
On Monday, after Penning’s first fight, the lineman said the chippiness is just a way for him to work on his game and improve.
“It’s part of my game, I think. It’s just how I am as a player,” Penning said Monday. “But I’m obviously out there working technique. I’m trying to get better at the technique of the game, getting the blocks down. The finishing ability, that’s what I pride myself in, and that’s always going to be part of my game."
He also insisted that football is a physical sport, so there was bound to be some nastiness even during practice.
Penning spent the last five years at Northern Iowa, finally earning a starting job in 2019 and keeping that job when the school resumed football activities in ’21. He entered this year’s draft, and the Saints took him with pick No. 19 in the draft.
At Northern Iowa, Penning was known for his “nasty attitude” along the offensive line. Even during the Senior Bowl, Penning brought an edge to every rep.
