Words, Fists Fly As Bengals Brawl on Multiple Occasions in Most Intense Practice of Training Camp

CINCINNATI – Wednesday’s practice, the Cincinnati Bengals’ penultimate one before Saturday’s preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, descended into one donnybrook after another.

It was living embodiment of the training camp cliché of “looking forward to hitting someone in a different color helmet.”

Ted Karras, Logan Wilson Set Off Bengals Fights

As surprising as the series of skirmishes were, the real stunner was the man who set it off  — Logan Wilson.

The linebacker has never been involved in a practice fight during his time in Cincinnati, and he said he never was in one at Wyoming, either.

But when center Ted Karras stayed engaged with Wilson longer than he deemed acceptable and took him to the ground at the end of a running play, Wilson got up and took a swing at the back of Karras’ head. Alex Cappa charged in and blasted Wilson to the ground, and the first-team offense and first-team defense melded into a giant ball of rage.

Cooler heads did not prevail.

That was the first of a series of incidents, most of which came as a result of defensive players taking ball carriers to the ground when they were only supposed to be “thudding.”

“Today, I thought they were appropriate fights,” Karras said. “There’s a lot of inappropriate ones.”

Germaine Pratt was at the center of a couple of scrums, one after he and Joseph Ossai took Charlie Jones to the ground. And another when Pratt put a game-speed shot on an airborne Andrei Iosivas near the goal line.

This practice is off the rails and Ted Karras is beyond livid. pic.twitter.com/1yGTGB37s7

— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) August 7, 2024

“Just a bang-bang play, I’d say,” Pratt said. “What’s a fine line in football? It’s physical. It’s football. What are we doin’? We want to protect our teammates, obviously. But when it’s football, it’s time to get physical.”

Karras entered the fray after the Jones tackle and again after Pratt’s hit on Iosivas, when he called it “f—king ridiculous.”

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After practice, he was more judicious.

“I want to make it clear that fighting does not mean an intense training camp,” Karras said. “Fighting just means we’ve been at each other’s throats for three weeks and it’s time for someone else to come in the building.”

“Fighting for fighting’s sake is not an edge,” he added. “I think we’ve had an edge these last three years of executing at a high level, going out there and being available every single day and working to get better so that ultimately when we go out to play, we’re ready to go and have earned the trust of our teammates and win.”

While there were multiple fights, Zac Taylor and the coaching staff never stopped practice to address them.

There was, however, a much longer post-practice talk, with every player taking a knee and listening intently.

Taylor is scheduled to hold a news conference Thursday. After Wednesday’s practice, offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher spoke to the media.

“I thought it was a really good practice, a competitive practice,” he said. “It obviously got heated on both sides. We just have to protect ourselves and make sure we’re not putting our teammates in jeopardy. We have a lot of prideful guys that put a lot into this job and care a lot about what they do, and they respond in an intense way. As long as we’re doing it the right way, it’s good for our football team.”

Pride – and trash talk – was at the center of everything. The first-team defense has been getting the best of the offense, but in today’s move-the-ball drill, quarterback Joe Burrow led a nine-play touchdown drive, going 7-for-8 and hitting running back Zack Moss for the score.

The second drive for the starters saw Burrow going 6-for-7 and hitting Kendric Pryor for a touchdown. It was the fifth play of that drive that ended with Wilson punching Karras.

About an hour after the practice ended, Karras said he still hadn’t spoken to Wilson.

“We’ll talk later,” he said. “It was an intense day. I’m not gonna be weird about it. We’re gonna be intense for a while. But I’m not gonna hold it against him. I hope he doesn’t hold it against me.”

“But he might be,” he added with a laugh.

After Pratt and Ossai took Jones to the ground on the first play of the third drive by the starters, Karras had a message for Burrow.

“I remember being in the huddle like, ‘Man, Joe, put one in the end zone right here. Then we can be done, and we win.’ And that’s what he did,” Karras said.

Burrow stepped up in the pocket as Ossai crashed off the left side and threw a bomb to hit Tee Higgins in stride.

Several scrums. Offense getting upset with defense consistently taking guys to the ground. This was Joe Burrow‘s answer. pic.twitter.com/rCOAs9wfTE

— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) August 7, 2024

“I love hitting a 30-yard jog as an O-lineman when you hit a big play,” Karras said. “That brings a little wind in your sails, doing the o-line jog to set the huddle 30 yards in advance.”

The coaches marked the play dead at the point of the catch because safety Jordan Battle was closing fast and would have tackled Higgins had it been a live drill.

Five plays later saw Pratt deck Iosivas.

Two plays after that, Burrow rolled right, bought time, and threw across his body into the end zone for Tanner Hudson, who also got popped and wasn’t able to hang on to the ball.

All the barking and hitting and swinging might be forgotten a few hours after practice.

Or maybe they won’t. Maybe today will be one the team looks back fondly on if it makes a run.

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Karras already is linking today’s activity and the general urgency the Bengals have shown in camp to a past event – finishing in last place in the division and missing the playoffs last year.

“It was a hard pill to swallow last year,” he said. “We’re talking about being in the AFC Championship two years in a row, and we didn’t make the playoffs. That hurts everybody. I think that affected a lot of people personally. It affected me personally. I think guys have come back ready to go.”