By Terrty McCormick
Foxsportstennessee.com
August 19, 2010
Tennessee Titans running back LeGarrette Blount punched teammate Eric Bakhtiari in the face mask at the end of a red zone drill in Wednesday night's practice.
Blount, who punched Boise State player Byron Hout in a much-publicized incident last year at the University of Oregon, had just returned to the team in time for the practice after being away to apparently attend a family funeral.
The punch brought an end to the practice and brought out an apology from the rookie running back, one that Coach Jeff Fisher said was unnecessary, as the incident was just a by-product of a physical training practice.
�I promised that that was behind me and that was my past and it just came up again and I got into one of those situations where the defense pushed me too far,� Blount said, speaking of his reason for aplogizing. �But with training camp and everything going and it being as intense as it is, and me being a rookie, it was something I shouldn't have done, but I did it.�
Fisher offered support for Blount, who served a lengthy suspension for his punch last year, and probably went undrafted in April because of that incident.
�I am not disappointed whatsoever. His past is his past,� Fisher said. �Is that the first punch you've seen at training camp? I'm not disappointed whatsoever. I've got great confidence in the young man that he's learned from his mistake and he's very competitive, and that's why we brought him in here to watch him run the football like that.�
Wednesday night's practice had been a fiesty one with lots of pushing and shoving and Vince Young even being touched a couple of times even though quarterbacks are off limits to contact in practice.
After Blount's helmet was ripped off, there were several players on offense and defense shoving each other, including Blount who was being some pinballed around before finally taking a swing at Bakhtiari's face mask.
�Two plays in a row, the previous play they pulled my helmet off intentionally, and then they did it again. They basically almost do it every day,� Blount said. �They grab you by the back of your head and pull your helmet off. They know that automatically blows the play dead, so it's just an on-going process and they just kept egging it on and just provoked me till it got to a certain point. They did it to everybody.�
A new rule stops a play automatically when a ball carrier's helmet is removed.
In the locker room, Blount answered questions about the skirmish. Meanwhile, Bakhtiari sat at his locker with a towel draped over his head and declined comment when approached by reporters.
Linebacker Will Witherspoon said it was simply a heat of the moment incident, and the fact that Blount was involved doesn't make it worse.
�You move past it. It's just tempers flaring and guys carrying over. Just because of who it is doesn't make a difference,� Witherspoon said. �It's also one of those things that you've got to realize this is still your teammate and you've just got to hold this in check.�
Injuries
Offensive tackle David Stewart apparently caught a helmet to the face going against defensive end Jason Babin and left practice early Wednesday. He needed seven stitches to close the wound, but said he would likely practice on Thursday.
�I was going against Babin, but I don't know if it was his helmet or finger or what it was. But when I bent down to get my helmet, I felt blood,� Stewart said.
Defensive end Jacob Ford left with a lower leg injury and did not finish practice on Wednedsay evening.
Cortland Finnegan is improving, but likely will not play on Monday night against the Arizona Cardinals.
In addition, Dave Ball sat out practice to rest on Wednesday, as did Ryan Mouton (groin), Stanford Keglar (hamstring), Justin Gage (thumb) and William Hayes (knee).
