Ravens, Commanders skirmish during first day of joint practices: 'There is a lot of pride'
OWINGS MILLS -- The first day of joint practices between the Ravens and Commanders got heated, with a few players losing their cool.
The two teams competing all day had what head coach John Harbaugh called "dustups."
Harbaugh was happy with how it was quickly resolved and the overall work through the practice.
"Joint practices are a challenge, always, obviously, because you've got two teams out here, and there is a lot of pride," Harbaugh said. "I thought it was a really good practice. We had a couple of dust-ups, which you don't want to see, but it's not really unexpected. I thought they got handled pretty quickly."
At one point in the practice, Ravens' Tylan Wallace and Commanders' Emmanuel Forrest were tangled up after a play and threw what appeared to be punches. Forbes was taken down by Ravens' Devin Duvernay in the skirmish.
It wasn't a huge surprise to see tempers flare. The purpose of joint practices is to create a competitive but controlled environment. They're also a good chance for star players — who might not play in any preseason games — to get some work in against another team.
"To me, this is actually almost better than preseason," Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. "It's much harder to tackle without going to the ground, and then you're covering elite guys every single play."
Harbaugh said avoiding tackling is tricky, and it's sometimes unclear how much physicality is too much. Forbes appeared to be trying to knock the ball away from Wallace at the end of a play when the two swung at each other.
"Tempers flare and I'm just competing," Forbes said.
Shortly after, Ravens tight end Mark Andrews was seen slamming Commanders cornerback Danny Johnson to the ground leading to another scuffle.
"(Harbaugh) addressed their guys, I addressed our guys and they got back to it," Washington coach Ron Rivera said. "What we're trying not to have is a big melee that we can't get stopped. That would not make sense, and that would be inexcusable. We're trying to temper it."
But Andrews said, with the Commanders in town, he knew play would be competitive.
"It's amazing to have the Washington [Commanders] out here and being competitive and be able to practice against these guys," Andrews said. "We want to be competitive and play inside the rules, and I thought today was a good day. Obviously, [there was] a lot of competitiveness, a lot of chippiness, but [I have] a lot of respect for the organization and what they stand for."
For quarterback Lamar Jackson, Tuesday was a day to get to work in the new offensive with his new weapons and he was excited to face someone other than his own defense.
"I'd rather go against someone else [other] than my teammates, but I feel like iron sharpens iron", Jackson said. "We have one of the best defenses in the league, and it prepared us for today."
Plenty of Super Bowl champions in attendance including Ravens Super Bowl champions and WJZ analysts Qadry Ismail and Torrey Smith taking in day one. As well as a couple Washington football legends, Super Bowl XXVI champion Brian Mitchell and three-time Super Bowl winning head coach Joe Gibbs.
These teams will be seeing plenty of each other. There's another joint practice Wednesday, and the Commanders host an exhibition game against the Ravens on Monday night.
