Over their history, the Cincinnati Bengals have never been regarded as a particularly physical team. Even at their best, this franchise has succeeded by attacking down the field vertically and avoiding any substantial physicality at the line of scrimmage. That being said, there have certainly been some signs over the years that this organization is attempting to make the push toward overpowering physicality.
Cincinnati Bengals Practice Brawl Chalked Up to ‘Boys Being Boys’
One of the obvious ways that the fans can gauge the increasing physicality is by measuring the intensity of practice sessions. Cincinnati has generally been known for taking a cool, calm, and collected approach to their practices but on Wednesday, this team revealed that they are capable of incorporating some raw emotion into the game.
On two separate occasions, center Ted Karras created a scuffle between the offensive and defensive players during Wednesday’s practice. The first came on a play that found Karras driving linebacker Logan Wilson to the sideline. Karras put his intensity on display as he continued his block past the whistle in a manner of physicality that Wilson may not have been expecting. Wilson would then punch Karras in the head as the offensive lineman was getting to his feet when offensive guard Alex Cappa stepped in to support the leader of the offensive line.
After an explosive takedown by Kappa, defensive tackle B.J. Hill stepped in and engaged with Kappa, even throwing a few punches at the Cincinnati right guard’s facemask. This is when the coaching staff widely stepped in and separated the warring parties.
First notable dust up of Bengals camp: Ted Karras and Logan Wilson briefly mixing it up. pic.twitter.com/kosq21iNdb
— Charlie Clifford (@char_cliff) August 7, 2024
Another incident happened later in practice when wide receiver Andrei Iosivas took a monster hit over the middle from linebacker Germaine Pratt and safety Vonn Bell. Karras, clearly furious that the defense was taking shots at their own teammates, ran downfield and started throwing shots at Pratt. This scuffle ended fairly uneventfully but the combination of the two events definitely indicates a trend between the offensive line and the defense as a unit.
Another scuffle. Andrei Iosivas gets sandwiched between Vonn Bell and Germaine Pratt
Ted Karras wasn’t happy about it @Local12 #RuleTheJungle pic.twitter.com/U0yJbDYz83
— Chris Renkel (@Chris_Renkel) August 7, 2024
It can be a tall order for a coach to figure out the proper way to manage brawling amongst professional athletes in practice. Still, it appeared that the Cincinnati coaching staff managed perfectly. Pushing and wrestling is unlikely to cause any injuries but the moment players start throwing punches, the players have to be separated. Obviously, these are all tough athletes but it is fairly common for players to break their hands when they punch the facemask of an offender. Such an embarrassing injury would definitely be unpleasant for the entire organization.
Hopefully, the chippiness in practice will be a positive sign for the intensity of the offensive line throughout the regular season.
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