It's probably a good thing the Patriots and the Bears only play each other once every four years because they don't seem to like each other very much.
The two teams almost got into an all-out brawl on Monday during the first day of their joint practices. According to NESN.com, the brawl started when Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery and Patriots defensive back Malcolm Butler started going at it during an 11-on-11 drill.
The two went from grabbing each other's facemasks to an all-out shoving match. A few teammates then noticed the pushing and shoving, and at that point, almost everyone on both teams decided to join the melee.
@ProFootballTalk butler vs Jeffrey fight at patriots practice pic.twitter.com/fWt0E4VyT0
— JP_Shanahan (@JP_Shanahan) August 15, 2016
Here's what the near-brawl looked like from a different angle.
A look at the fracas. Nearly became a full-on brawl. pic.twitter.com/G7IXbiVdM4
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) August 15, 2016
Although there weren't really any punches thrown, there was at least one punishment handed out: Butler got the boot from practice.
Malcolm Butler got ejected from practice by Belichick for fighting. Jeffery just goes to the sideline
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) August 15, 2016
It's probably a good thing hr got kicked out of practice, that means he'll have more time to watch film on all the times he was beaten by Jeffery on Monday.
Anyway, there was also a small skirmish between Martellus Bennett and a few Bears players. However, that one didn't turn into a brawl.
From my vantage point, it appeared Lamarr Houston and Martellus Bennett were involved in the second flare up during that FG drill.
— Zach Zaidman (@ZachZaidman) August 15, 2016
It's not a complete surprise that Bennett was picking a fight with the Bears. For one, he spent the past three seasons playing for Chicago, and two, he doesn't seem to care for Jay Cutler very much.
We should probably also mention that Kyle Long and Chris Long got into each other's faces after practice, but that's normal, they're brothers.
