Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons is almost always in the middle of any disagreement or trash talk during training camp practice.
But coach Robert Saleh has drawn a clear line for in-practice scrums during his first Titans camp.
And Simmons stepped over the line on Aug. 4
, throwing a punch during the most heated part of practice after getting his helmet ripped off during a 11-on-11 team period."Our policy is if you throw a punch, you're ejected in a game. Same thing with practice," Saleh said. "If you throw a punch, you're out of practice.
"But rather than going into the locker room, he went to the other field. He still got his work in."
update
Saleh halted practice for a moment after the scrum to talk to the group.
Saleh has spoken a lot during the first week of camp about setting the right tone with physicality and allowing players to express themselves with trash talk and some routine pushing and shoving.
That's a common occurrence throughout all 32 camps, as is balancing those extracurricular moments with discipline.
"The mindset of these men when they're in uniform, they're different," Saleh said. "They're different. That's why they play this sport. You want them to be able to express all the emotion, but they just have to be disciplined with it."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Jeffery Simmons was ejected from Titans practice after scuffle, punches thrown
