It didn’t take Dolphins rookie offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil long to get into his first practice fight.
Tunsil and Dolphins defensive end Chris McCain got into it on the practice field today, but everyone said afterward that it was no big deal.
“That’s football, man,” McCain said. “It’s training camp, we see each other all day, we’re around each other seven, eight, 12 hours a day, so it’s all good. It’s part of football.”
Tunsil, who went to the Dolphins with the 13th overall pick after his draft stock tumbled as someone hacked his social media to reveal embarrassing information, said he has no issue with McCain.
“That’s all it is – competition,” Tunsil said. “It’s all love for all of my teammates. We’re just competing. Like I said, we’re just competing. It’s all love for my teammates – the d-line, offensive line, receivers, anything.”
Dolphins coach Adam Gase says he doesn’t mind a fight on the practice field, as long as it’s limited to pushing and shoving, and no punches are thrown.
“I guess it’s never really bothered me. If somebody got hurt, then all of a sudden it’s one of those [where] it’s not a problem until it’s a problem,” Gase said. “But there’s a lot of different activities going on throughout practice and you’d rather it not happen, but it does. It’s hot. You’re in pads. It’s competitive. They’re encouraged every once in a while. You’d like guys not to throw punches, though.”
That seems to be the general consensus among NFL coaches: A fight in camp is no big deal. Just don’t let it get out of hand.
