Things may change on Thursday, but the first day of the joint practices between the Bears and Colts at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center wasn’t full of fisticuffs.
There were plenty of pleasantries, actually.
Former college teammates hung out, players loudly joked with each other, tight end Martellus Bennett gave Colts quarterback Andrew Luck a hug and so on
It looked and felt different than the Bears’ final practice in Bourbonnais where defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff had to be separated from center Will Montgomery.
Nothing close to the brawl that occurred between the Cowboys and Rams this week transpired on Wednesday.
Coach John Fox didn’t warn the Bears about fighting.
“I don’t think he had to say anything with this group and I know [Colts coach] Chuck [Pagano] and their group,” quarterback Jay Cutler said. “They’ve got a great group of guys as well, so you just kind of have to gauge your team.
“We knew we’d come in here and get some good work, thud it up and move on, and that’s what we did.”
Some observations
• The Bears’ starting defense, which generated a strong pass rush often in team drills, held Luck and the Colts to a field goal in a two-minute drill.
• The Colts’ best offensive play was a long catch down the seam by tight end Coby Fleener (a Joliet Catholic graduate) with linebacker Shea McClellin in coverage.
• Any picks for Cutler?
“There was one in one-on-ones,” he said. “Nothing during team stuff.”
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