Jeffery Simmons, JC Latham in Tennessee Titans practice skirmishes. What Brian Callahan had to say

As soon as the pads went on at Tennessee Titans training camp, tempers began to flare.

Skirmishes broke out on back-to-back plays in the team scrimmage period of practice Tuesday, the first of the preseason where players were in full uniform and permitted more contact in the trenches. The first fight was contained between All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and rookie offensive tackle JC Latham, in which Simmons pawed at Latham's helmet.

But after the next play, a bigger scrum broke out, with Simmons and fellow defenders like edge rushers Arden Key and Rashad Weaver in the center of it, along with the Titans' first-team offensive line and even skill players like receiver Mason Kinsey.

After the second stoppage, coaches paused practice to address the team. Coach Brian Callahan said afterward that he doesn't anticipate fighting being an issue throughout camp and believes the chippiness was reined in after the two dustups.

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"It was training camp, first day of pads, trying to set the tone," Callahan said. "Those things don’t bother me so much. We know we’ve got to play within the rules and protect our teammates and we’ve got it figured out after that. I don’t expect any additional problems. (I said) those things (to the players), in a much more colorful tone . . .

"It’s football. I don’t mind guys setting a tone with the intensity ramped up. We’ve just got to understand that we can play to edge and we can still play within the rules."

None of the central figures from the fights spoke to the media after practice, but a few players who had firsthand accounts did. Center Lloyd Cushenberry III, who Simmons lined up in front of ahead of the play that resulted in the second skirmish, said moments like these are about establishing an edge but not crossing a line. He said players had "kind of been going at it even without pads" and he sort of expected an incident like Tuesday's to break out at some point.

"I don’t think it’s concerning at all," Cushenberry said. "This is football. You expect chippiness. You expect it, especially on the O-line and D-line where you need that fiery personality on the field. I don’t think it’s a bad sign at all."

Buzzwords like "aggression" and "physicality" have defined offseason discussions about the Titans' defense under new coordinator Dennard Wilson. Safety Amani Hooker said that hasn't meant letting passion boil into fights that could end in penalties, ejections or suspensions. The message hasn't changed in that regard despite the coaching turnover; Hooker says former Titans coach Mike Vrabel preached the same standard as the new coaches about approaching the line of being aggressive without crossing it.

"We want to keep it in between the lines," Hooker said. "But we want to have energy. We want to be able to take it to the edge and then we have to have guys who can pull each other back because we’re all trying to protect the team."

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Tennessee Titans training camp fights: Jeffery Simmons history

Callahan said he didn't consider throwing Simmons out of practice after the first fight because of the circumstances surrounding the first day of padded practice. Guys are "cranked up," Callahan said, and he believes players are aware of the repercussions of what can happen if fights occur in games.

Simmons was involved in a minor skirmish almost exactly a year ago during training camp with former Titans tackle Jamarco Jones. Both players were removed from practice and spent the remainder of the session working out in the sand pit adjacent to the Titans' practice fields. Jones was waived two days later after causing a second in-practice incident.

Tennessee Titans training camp schedule

The Titans hold their next practice at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday and will practice again on Saturday and Sunday before heading into Week 3 of training camp, which will conclude with a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jeffery Simmons, JC Latham among Titans in training camp skirmishes