Titans practice observations: Fight breaks out and defense dominates

NASHVILLE - It was a chippy early morning practice for the Tennessee Titans at Saint Thomas Sports Park on Tuesday.

With the pads on for the first time in training camp, tensions were running high. Jeffery Simmons got into a scuffle with rookie left tackle J.C. Latham and swung at him. Head coach Brian Callahan chose to keep Simmons in for the remainder of practice.

"It's the first day of pads. Guys are cranked up. They understand what it is. We reigned it back in and had no problems after that. I don't anticipate it being an issue," said Callahan when asked why he didn't pull Simmons from practice.

Just a few plays later, things boiled over. Simmons was once again involved, along with many other Titans players as a large fight broke out during the live full-team period of practice. I saw Arden Key and Leroy Watson going after each other at one point. There ended up being a large dogpile of players as the fight raged on around them. Callahan had an animated conversation with his team immediately following.

"Fighting is not something we want to accept It's not part of the rules of the game," said the first-year head coach. "I've explained that before rand I'll explain that again. It's training camp in the first day of pads. [Simmons] is trying to set the tone. Those things don't bother me so much as long as we know we gotta play within the rules and protect out teammates. I think we got it figured out after that."

As far as the actual football is concerned, it was another dominant day by the Titans' defense. Even with L'Jarius Sneed (management), Jamal Adams (management), and Chidobe Awuzie (calf) out, the Titans' defensive backs held up well during 1-on-1 drills.

Second-year safety Matthew Jackson had two interceptions on the day. He got Will Levis during 7-on-7 and nabbed a pick six off Mason Rudolph during team period.

There was a lot of pressure coming at Titans quarterbacks, particularly from the right side of the offensive line. Outside linebacker Shane Ray looked good again and got into the backfield multiple times. It's an encouraging sign for a team that will be without Arden Key for the first six games of the regular season.

Key is being suspended by the NFL for violating the league's policy against performance enhancing drugs.

Some offensive highlights included a deep pass to Kyle Philips from Mason Rudolph and a beautiful bomb from Malik Willis to Bruce Oliver that went for a touchdown.

"They came out of the gates pretty hot and did a nice job in the first period," Brian Callahan said about the defensive success in early training camp practices. "I think we've got a good defense. I think those guys play hard. I think the scheme is good and they're coached hard. It's fun to compete against and I think it'll make us better on offense as well."

Related: Former Titans defender Denico Autry suspended by NFL after jumping to Texans in free agency