Tempers Flare At Packers, Bengals Joint Practice Leading To Fight

The Green Bay Packers and Cincinnati Bengals are going to be seeing a lot of each other this week. Not only are the teams having a joint practice, but they will also be facing off in a preseason game.

It will be the first time either team is seeing an opponent other than teammates this offseason. If there is one guarantee, tempers will assuredly flare up during the joint practice, as players are rearing to go for some live reps. And, that is exactly what happened on Wednesday.

We’ve got a scrum. Didn’t see who started it, but it escalated. pic.twitter.com/ul5K7rXekE

— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) August 9, 2023

Fights are a regular occurrence at joint practices and this one between Green Bay and Cincinnati was no different. That one looks like a big mass of players without much action, but Packers offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins was involved, per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic.

🚨FIGHT🚨

Multiple swings thrown. I saw Elgton Jenkins in there. Runyan and Doubs were on the ground. Didn’t see Bengals in the mix but the skirmish lasted a while.

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) August 9, 2023

This fight was actually caused because of a good play on the field. Jenkins had a wonderful block on Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt that knocked him flat on his backside. He didn’t like that, so once he got up off the ground he approach Jenkins, took a swing and the fight ensued.

First fight of the #Packers–#Bengals practice. LG Elgton Jenkins dropped a Bengals LB (Germaine Pratt I think) on his butt on a screen. The LB sat down shaking his head for a bit, then got up, approached Jenkins and took a swing at him. Jenkins lunged at him and it was on.

— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) August 9, 2023

Usually, once guys get all of it out of their system, practice can resume as scheduled. However, that was not the case on Wednesday. Jenkins was later involved in yet another fight, this time one he instigated with Bengals’ defensive tackle DJ Reader.

The Packers’ star left guard took a swing at Reader and connected to the side of his helmet. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur had seen enough from Jenkins and pulled him out of the drill to avoid any more issues.

Jenkins at it again. This time he takes a swing at defensive tackle DJ Reader, connecting to the side of the helmet. LaFleur pulls him from the drill. https://t.co/tuTukjF7co

— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) August 9, 2023

In fact, that ended up being the end of Jenkins’ day. He had his pads taken away and was brought inside, presumably to the Packers’ locker room. In baseball you get three strikes before you are out. But, at joint practice on Wednesday, Jenkins was out after two.

Elgton Jenkins’ day is done after being involved in two fights. Pads are off and he’s being taken back inside.

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) August 9, 2023

With no more scuffles, the Packers and Bengals were able to focus on what they came together for; practice. It was a good tune-up for both teams, as there were some positives to take away. They will have a chance to improve upon anything that went wrong when they face off in their preseason openers on Friday.