It was a hot summer day Friday and tempers flared during training camp practice for the Washington Football Team. Reserve tight end Temarrick Hemingway and star defensive end Montez Sweat had a heated exchange, according to Ben Standig of The Athletic.
Fellow defensive end Chase Young chimed in as well. Hemingway had to be held back by teammates before slamming his helmet on the sidelines.
Following practice Hemingway responded to accounts of the squabble, setting the record straight.
Yeah, don’t call Hemingway “salty,” he’s just “extremely competitive” much like any NFL player. Especially a player trying to carve a spot on the roster.
It must have been a tight end thing, as rookie Sammis Reyes also got into an exchange with a defensive player. Linebacker Cole Holcomb was Reyes’ choice to chirp back and forth at.
Or maybe the offense was just irritated with the aggressiveness of the defense. Sweat also got a mouth full from star wide receiver Terry McLaurin for getting a bit too touchy with quarterback Taylor Heinicke.
The competitive juices can be a positive at times. However, it can be a negative as well. It’s the negatives that concerns Washington head coach Ron Rivera, who stressed he was not a fan of training camp fights.
“I think it’s a good teachable moment,” Rivera said per Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith. “One of the things that I talked about with these guys, about how to practice and one of the sections of it is about fighting — don’t fight. It makes no sense. Why? You get into a fight and you get penalized, you get fined, you get hurt, you can get taken out of a game. So, it’s a teachable moment. I’ll use it. I’m not a big fan of it.”
Hopefully, tempers will be more settle as training camp moves along for Washington.
