Practice scuffle puts Colts, Ravens in opposite corners

The Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens traded punches Saturday.

First-year Colts coach Frank Reich jabbed back quickly after fists flew, a helmet was tossed and the two sidelines emptied onto the field, first to help defend teammates and then to restore order.

Perhaps one or two scuffles could have been expected from two franchises that celebrated championships in Baltimore, especially given so many players are fighting for jobs. But the responses left the coaches in opposite corners.

“We’re football players. We’re professional football players. We’re not fighters. This is not the MMA, we’re not in a cage, so that’s unacceptable,” Reich said from the end zone of one of the fields at training camp. “We’ve got little kids up in the stands. We’re role models. That’s not what we’re looking for. We want to find ways to execute football plays and win games. So I was very disappointed in that, and it led to a sloppy practice, at least on offense from what I saw.”

Make no mistake about Reich’s expectations.

He wants the Colts to be physical and protect their teammates by bailing them out of trouble, not creating more problems. But he also understands Indy’s margin for error is small, so it can’t afford missteps and must keep its emotions in check.

Off to the side of a second field, Ravens coach John Harbaugh seemed to scoff at the notion that the melee was any big deal.

“You know, it cracks me up,” said Harbaugh, the brother of former Colts quarterback and current Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. “Is this a healthy obsession we all have with fights at joint practices? It’s really, it’s nothing. It’s much ado about nothing. It got broken up pretty quickly.”

Clearly, this practice was more intense than Friday’s workout, held on a damp field that became even softer as heavy rain arrived while the two teams were working out.