Aug 15, 2023 By Associated Press 4 min read

Washington cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. had a busy day during his team’s joint practice with Baltimore.

The rookie was beat badly by fellow first-round draft pick Zay Flowers in a one-on-one drill. Later, Forbes made a nice play to break up a deep pass from Lamar Jackson to Odell Beckham Jr.

Eventually, the intensity boiled over a bit when Forbes and Tylan Wallace started swinging at each other, starting the first of two skirmishes between the Commanders and Ravens within a few minutes of each other Tuesday.

“Joint practices are a challenge – always,” Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said. “You’ve got two teams out here, and there is a lot of pride. I thought it was a really good practice. We had a couple dust-ups, which you don’t want to see, but it’s not really unexpected. I thought they got handled pretty quickly.”

It wasn’t a huge surprise to see tempers flare. The purpose of joint practices is to create a competitive but controlled environment. They’re also a good chance for star players – who might not play in any preseason games – to get some work in against another team.

“To me, this is actually almost better than preseason,” Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. “It’s much harder to tackle without going to the ground, and then you’re covering elite guys every single play.”

Harbaugh said avoiding tackling is tricky, and it’s sometimes unclear how much physicality is too much. Forbes appeared to be trying to knock the ball away from Wallace at the end of a play when the two swung at each other.

“Tempers flare and I’m just competing,” Forbes said.

Browns’ Garrett returns to practice: Cleveland Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett participated only in individual drills on Tuesday, a day after he left the field with a foot issue during the first of two joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Garrett, who matched his team single-season record of 16 sacks in 2022, walked off Monday midway through the workout with an unspecified foot injury. Coach Kevin Stefanski kept Garrett out of any team drills against the defending NFC champions.

Afterward, Garrett said his foot got rolled up on during Monday’s session.

“All good,” he said. “Have some pain, but good. Got the guys looking out for me and wanted to be a little bit cautious, see how I felt out there. Moving well, feeling good, (they) told me to just cool it for team and watch the guys work and they came out there with a lot of juice.”

Hot, humid conditions at the NovaCare Complex raised tempers and the Browns and Eagles had some small skirmishes ahead of Thursday night’s exhibition.

Richardson named Colts’ starter: Anthony Richardson’s first NFL start convinced the Indianapolis Colts that he’s ready to keep the job.

On Tuesday, three days after the fourth overall draft pick made his pro debut at Buffalo, coach Shane Steichen ended the suspense by naming Richardson the Colts’ opening day starter.

Richardson’s regular-season debut, on Sept. 10 against Jacksonville, will mark the seventh straight year Indy has had a different Week 1 starter. It began when Scott Tolzien replaced the injured Andrew Luck in 2017. The Colts are hoping Richardson’s ascent to the No. 1 spot on the depth chart ends the revolving door.

“I just started working my tail off every day,” Richardson said. “I didn’t want to come here and make it seem like everything was handed to me because it definitely shouldn’t be.”

When the Colts reported to training camp on July 25, general manager Chris Ballard insisted the team wouldn’t rush Richardson onto the field. Instead, Indy wanted to make sure the rookie was ready to play.

Jets activate Hall: Breece Hall never doubted he’d be back on the practice field this summer. His confidence and optimism were certainly tested during his 10-month journey from a surgically repaired knee.

“It was definitely bittersweet, really frustrating, like a little bit of everything,” the New York Jets’ second-year running back said after being activated from the physically unable to perform list Tuesday – a day after the team agreed to terms on a one-year deal with Dalvin Cook.

Hall was carted off the field in Denver in Week 7 last season after tearing the ACL and injuring the meniscus in his left knee in the second quarter of the Jets’ 16-9 victory – ending a promising rookie season.