Jacksonville Jaguars coach Gus Bradley is downplaying the incident during Friday night's preseason opener that led to Justin Blackmon's temporary banishment to the locker room.
Maurice Jones-Drew felt compelled to escort Blackmon to the locker room after the wide receiver (who didn't play with an injury) got into a verbal spat with Miami Dolphins cornerback Nolan Carroll, which ultimately led to a heated exchange between Blackmon and teammate Jason Babin.
"I'm not going to say that there was (nothing) between Justin and Jason Babin, but it was more like, 'Just back up when Gus is telling you to back up,'" Bradley explained Saturday, per The Associated Press. "It's one of those things, and it probably appeared bigger. ... But it was a lot smaller than what I initially thought."
Whereas Bradley acknowledged the temporary tension between teammates, Babin reacted as if nothing out of the ordinary occurred.
"Just an emotional game," Babin said. "It's how it's done, you know? It's football. Whatever happens Sunday, happens Sunday, and that's it."
It's evident that there's no lingering tension between Babin and Blackmon, but the latter's ongoing signs of immaturity have to be setting the front office on edge. To this point, Bradley has been in Blackmon's corner despite the receiver's four-game suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
Bradley expects Blackmon to be activated from the active/physically unable to perform list and practice Monday for the first time during training camp.
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