Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict has had more than his share of run-ins with members of other teams for his behavior on the field in recent years and Tuesday saw him touch off a scuffle with his own teammates.
Burfict tackled running back Giovani Bernard around the knees during a drill at Bengals training camp, which running backs coach Kyle Caskey and members of the offensive line reacted to strongly. A large part of that reaction, captured on video by Jay Morrison of the Dayton Daily News, is likely because Bernard is coming back from a torn ACL.
Morrison adds that Bengals coach Marvin Lewis could be heard yelling “keep the back off the ground” a short time later.
Burfict was suspended three games by the league to open the 2016 season because of repeated violations of player safety rules and he’s been fined many times throughout his NFL career. Tuesday’s hit wouldn’t have drawn either of those penalties, but it probably won’t make anyone feel too confident that those matters are a thing of the past for the linebacker either.