Insider: No chirping, jaw jacking or cheap shots at Colts-Bears practice

T.Y. Hilton streaked across the middle of the field just as Andrew Luck’s pass closed in like a heat-seeking missile.

But two Chicago Bears defenders converged on Hilton, the Indianapolis Colts receiver, just as he was positioning himself to make the reception. And for a split second, you almost expected the worst — a high-speed collision in which a defensive player takes a free shot at a wideout.

But it didn’t happen. The Bears players did the right thing — they pulled up before making contact.

This was practice, after all, the Colts and Bears on Wednesday staging the first of two joint practices before playing each other in a preseason matchup on Saturday.

The NFL has seen a pair of ugly melees in recent weeks, including multiple brawls Tuesday between the Dallas Cowboys and St. Louis Rams that included Dallas receiver Dez Bryant taking a punch to the face.

Conversely, the only notable action between the Colts and Bears happened within the context of the game — linemen jousting for position, receivers attempting to elude defensive backs and the like.

Emotions remained in check. Tempers did not flare. Order was maintained.

“I know everybody has seen all the fights,” Colts linebacker Jerrell Freeman said. “That’s a class organization just like ours is, so we understand how to practice and I think we did pretty good as far as competing out there.”

A chief reason for the fights seen so far this preseason — specifically during practices between the Houston Texans and Washington Redskins and Tuesday’s Rams-Cowboys skirmishes — have been hijinks that continued past the whistle.

But the Colts and Bears showed great restraint in that regard. They knew when to turn it off and when to turn it on. Without such an approach, this week’s practices would not be nearly as productive.

“We’re here to make each other better,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. “We’re here to take care of each other. Treat them like we treat ourselves. It’s not about the chirping and the jaw jacking and taking cheap shots. It’s about getting better.

“It won’t be tolerated and you can’t cross the line.”

Pagano didn’t specify what any potential penalties would have consisted of, though he did toss defensive lineman Kelcy Quarles and center Jon Harrison from a practice earlier in training camp for fighting.

But all the finger wagging in the world can’t eradicate fighting altogether in football. It’s a brutal, physical sport that tests players’ manhood. Lines will occasionally be crossed.

“Everybody’s fighting for a job,” Freeman said. “They’re fighting for their livelihoods out there. It’s just a lot of competition. But you have to be a professional. If you get into a fight out there and get hurt, you’re done.”

The absence of fighting did not necessarily translate into a lack of intensity.

Among the day’s highlights, players said, were the inside run portions of the workout conducted on both fields (one field featured the Colts offense vs. the Bears defense and vice versa).

It’s among the most mettle-testing portions of any practice. It’s old school, and it’s not pretty. It’s real football. To conduct the drill against players wearing different jerseys ratcheted things up several notches.

“Anytime you have the inside run (period), the juices are flowing,” tight end Dwayne Allen said. “Or, they better be flowing. That’s a serious drill where the defense knows that you’re running the ball and you have to go. Offensively, I believe we did a good job of barreling down and fighting out of there.”

That allowed running back Frank Gore to have a productive day against the Bears’ defensive front. He was quick and elusive, combining those traits with his considerable power.

On the other field, the Colts’ defense tried to stymie quarterback Jay Cutler and the Bears offense. The inside-run period was spirited for them, too.

“I mean, you’re coming downhill and you’re trying to make contact,” Freeman said. “You want to take care of each other. We tried not to hit the running backs too hard. But we wanted to give them just a little thud.”

The defense left quite the impression on Cutler.

“I thought they got after us. I thought they won the day,” he said.

Perhaps they did. But whatever the results, the Colts and Bears settled it on the field – as opposed to with fisticuffs.