How the Dolphins Reacted to Feisty Joint Practice

The Miami Dolphins even had a skirmish between teammates at Halas Hall in Chicago on Friday

Miami Dolphins guard Aaron Brewer (55) runs during joint training camp practice with the Chicago Bears ahead of Sunday's preseason opener. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

CHICAGO — It’s really not very uncommon to see skirmishes at joint practice, but there were some interesting sidelights involving the Miami Dolphins at Halas Hall on Friday.

For one, Mike McDaniel got himself right in the middle of a melee in the end zone and was joined there by Tyreek Hill even though he wasn’t practicing, and there also was enough of a disagreement between Jordyn Brooks and another Dolphins player that teammates had to get between them.

All in a day’s work, right?

“It's an NFL camp practice,” Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said after the practice. “Everybody has a chip on their shoulder. You got guys fighting for roster spots, you got guys trying to feed their families. You know what I'm saying? It's gonna be aggressive. It's gonna be passionate.

“Obviously you don't want to see anybody get hurt, but it gets chippy, it gets feisty. And at the end of the day, you're asking a whole bunch of grown men to be violent and not get mad and passionate about it. I think that's a tough ask. But like I said, you wanna be safe, you wanna be smart, but you're gonna play with passion, that's all.”

DID THE BEARS CROSS THE LINE?

The Bears certainly did practice with passion Friday, though it also could be described as going a bit over the line.

Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said before practice that he and his Bears counterpart Ben Johnson had agreed there would be no live tackling, only thudding.

But there were a couple of instances where there was more than thudding, including a Bears defender running through Jaylen Waddle on a screen pass, a Bears player knocking down Jack Jones on a kickoff return and the most egregious, linebacker Noah Sewell hitting Erik Ezukanma on top of the helmet (it almost looked like a clubbing) after a reception over the middle.

Guard James Daniels, who played for the Bears at the start of his career before moving on to the Pittsburgh and this year to the Dolphins, said he didn’t think the Bears crossed the line.

 “I think they did a good job,” Daniels said. “I mean, they weren't playing reckless, but they weren't doing things that our teammates would do. I think that's good. I mean, it really helps us get in the mood and get ready for the season. So the intensity they brought for practice today, I was excited about, I was happy about it. So I thought they did a good job with it, (and) I thought we did a good job responding to their intensity as well.”

McDANIEL GETS INVOLVED

The Dolphins certainly pushed back after a late play in the practicing-ending red zone work after wide receiver Dee Eskridge became entangled with Bears safety Kevin Byard III.

After the skirmish seemed to be settled, it started up again, this time involving Aaron Brewer and Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.

It got bad enough that McDaniel and Hill went into the end zone to get involved, Hill using one arm to lift Eskridge away from the fracas. Hill, of course, wasn’t practicing because of his oblique injury and had only a T-shirt on.

“Mike is just worried about … I mean, he thinks fights are a waste of time,” Daniels said. “Like we're here to practice. I mean, if you throw a punch in a game, you get ejected. So that's how he's looking at it. I mean, we're looking, and then go home. And so the fights are unfortunate. Like, we're really not trying because it's illegal to do in a game, so we shouldn't be trying to do that in practice.”

This is what Byard had to say about his altercation with Eskridge.

"Well, for me, it was one of those situations, I mean, this guy that was trying to block, just doing some extra stuff,” he said. “I didn't throw any punches, but I made sure I had him and let him know that he's a little boy. But when Tyrique jumped in. I started breaking it up. I tried to break it up with Tyrique. Like I said, it just kind of knowing your guys. Sometimes guys in the middle of a practice, hot practice, guys are kind of tired, guys kind of black out a little bit. I just tried to grab him and tell, 'hey, it's over, it's over.' Just protecting the guys. But, you know, it's NFL football. It happens. It's training camp."

Count Dolphins cornerback Kendall Sheffield among those not surprised that things get testy at practice Friday.

“I mean, I just think it's just a competitive thing going against somebody else you haven't gone against in like a year,” he said. “You haven't played against a different jersey in a year for both teams, so when you're able to go against somebody else you just get a little more intense stuff and ready to go.”