The Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears participated in a joint practice on Friday afternoon ahead of their preseason game on Sunday. Like many joint practices, it was intense — and at times, overly aggressive. It became so heated that Miami Herald’s Omar Kelly issued a warning about potential ejections if the same behavior spills into Sunday’s game.
“Throwing punches in a preseason game gets you kicked out of the game. Man…..I bet Mike McDaniel and Ben Johnson is going to show that to their teams because these two franchise got beef after today,” Kelly wrote.
Although Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill was sidelined with an injury and not practicing, he made headlines for an unexpected reason — stepping in to defuse a fight. Hill showed impressive maturity by pulling a teammate out of the melee.
“Most impressive sight of today’s practice was watching Tyreek Hill carry Dee Eskridge out of the scrum with one hand. Picked him up and talked him off like a toddler,” Kelly posted.
Kelly also didn’t hold back in criticizing the Bears’ defensive approach, describing it as over-the-top and borderline reckless.
“The Bears are clearly trying to create a renegade identity on defense. It was cheap and at times crossed a line,” Kelly wrote.
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He later doubled down, citing a specific and dangerous incident during practice.
“No, it was dirty. You aren't supposed to hit in a joint practice. The Bears were lighting people up. There was one instance where a Bears defender tried to closed line a Dolphins receiver. Who does that on a football field, much less a practice,” Kelly posted.
It appears that Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen either has his players pushing the limits — or it could be that some are simply fighting for a spot on the 53-man roster and letting emotions boil over. Either way, if tensions from Friday aren’t addressed, Sunday’s game could get ugly.