Chicago Bears moving practice to Indy
Despite the brawls that marred the recent joint practices between Houston and Washington players, Bears coach John Fox sees positives looking ahead to practices against the Indianapolis Colts on Wednesday and Thursday.
After two practices at the Colts' training facility and an intrasquad walk-through, the teams will meet at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
"I just think it's important to see other people, the styles of play," Fox said. "They're a playoff team from a year ago, and I know their staff pretty well. They're good guys, and we look forward to it being competitive and yet civil."
"Competitive" and "civil" can be a tough combination, as the Bears proved in their final practice at Bourbonnais on Sunday, which was punctuated with punching, pushing and shoving.
"I think at this point they get kind of tired of beating on each other. We've been doing it all off-season as well as at training camp," Fox said after Tuesday's first practice back at Halas Hall.
"It's been my experience that guys like (practicing against another team). We did it a year ago in Denver, and it's something that I think is kind of going to grow more and more as we move forward."
In addition to his friendship and familiarity with Colts head coach Chuck Pagano and his staff, Fox believes that practicing just twice will help keep tempers from spiking.
"One of the things you learn through experience is. that third day things get a little chippy," Fox said. "The advantage is you get to see them in practice all week.
"We didn't get to do that against Miami and won't get to do that against Cincinnati or Cleveland. You don't necessarily game plan, but you get a pretty good idea of what they're doing because you practice against them all week."
Bears starters will play more than the 12-15 snaps they had in the preseason opener, and the defense especially will be tested.
The Colts, led by quarterback Andrew Luck, were the NFL's No. 1 passing team last year and No. 3 in total offense. They have been to the playoffs in each of the previous three seasons, winning 11 games in the regular season each year.
"They have the model for what it is to be successful in this league," Bears guard Kyle Long said. "It'll be a good idea to see how they practice and how they go about their business and also get an opportunity to see some other guys in a practice setting."
What about the potential for extracurricular activity?
"I think we're game to cut loose a little bit, if that's the case," Long said. "But … it's going to be a very controlled environment. Things aren't going to be allowed to go off the handle very often.
"Indianapolis has a tremendous coaching staff and a roster that won't let it happen like that, and same with us. We (do) get tired of hitting each other, especially when you're in minicamp and training camp for so long. so we're excited to hit some guys with horseshoes on their helmets."
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