ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur hankered for a fight-free joint practice as the Packers and Denver Broncos were warming up Friday. He and Broncos coach Sean Payton agreed to no 1-on-1 drills pitting wide receivers and cornerbacks or linebackers against running backs and that even the pass-rush drills during 7-on-7s would be truncated and tame.
“We just want a good, competitive practice and we want to keep it safe,” LaFleur said. “We want to eliminate all fighting if possible.” He knew that was a big ask.
“It’s football. There’s going to be competitiveness, there’s going to be chippiness,” LaFleur said. “But can you keep your composure? I think that’s part of the beauty of the game.
When you’re in a real-life game situation, it does get chippy, it does get testy, guys start to talk [trash]. But can you keep your composure?” Not 30 minutes later, LaFleur was hopping mad, running onto the field and hollering at Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto after quarterback Jordan Love , who signed a four-year, $220 million extension last month, was knocked to the ground and threw an interception. Pleading his innocence, Bonitto looked back at LaFleur and the Packers' hooting and hollering sideline with a shrug.
Love said afterward it was actually one of his own linemen who crashed into him just as he was about to release the ball. “Zach Tom just got pushed and hit my shoulder,” Love said. “So I don’t think it was anything with the D-line or .