Cincinnati and Green Bay, who meet in the preseason opener Friday at Paycor Stadium, have only played three times in the last decade, most recently a 25-22 win for the Packers in October 2021. The Rams were coming off a 23-20 win over the Bengals in the Super Bowl when they came to Cincinnati last August.
“It was pretty wild,” Scott said. “I to this day still joke around, like I don’t know who the guy or girl was that sat down and said, ‘Hey, let’s have a Super Bowl rematch three months after it happened and hopefully everything comes out peaceful.’ We kind of knew that was going to happen, but I’m glad to be on this side now. I won’t say what I was doing during that skirmish, but all that matters is I’m in orange and black now, and if something happens in the near future, I’ll be riding with the black and orange.”
The Bengals and Rams had two joint practices last year, and there was plenty of trash-talking during the first day but nothing out of the ordinary.
Day 2 featured at least three noticeable instances, the last of which La’el Collins and then-Rams linebacker Leonard Floyd started going at it to set off a brawl. Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald ended up with a Bengals helmet in his hands and started swinging it at opposing players before he was taken to the ground.
“At that point, I was a huge advocate in ending the fight because at that point I was like, ‘Guys, this is football and it’s about to get really dangerous,’” Scott said. “It’s life over limb at that point.”
Scott, who replaces strong safety Vonn Bell, spent the first four years of his NFL career with the Rams, and his emergence during the playoffs to end the 2021 season earned him a job as a full-time starter last year. He started and played every defensive snap in the Super Bowl against the Bengals but was one of the players trying to break up the fight.
Bengals players had said there was still animosity toward the Rams because of the way the Bengals lost to them in the Super Bowl — penalties helped L.A. extend their go-ahead scoring drive and the Bengals couldn’t convert on three attempts to get one yard in the final minute.
Scott said it wasn’t surprising the emotions turned into something more on the field.
“I think it had a huge part in it,” Scott said. “There’s so much emotion in this game, so it’s natural for it to spill over a little bit. I don’t expect anything Wednesday.”
Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton said he’s looking forward to the joint practice with the Packers, and although he expects the intensity to be up, he doesn’t believe it will lead to anything like last year with the Rams.
‘It’s going to be fun,” Hilton said. “You get tired of going against your own teammates so when you’ve got another team coming in, you want to kind of dominate those guys. We expect them to come in excited and we’re ready to go out and compete.
“We’re just going to keep it cool. Obviously, tempers are going to flare, but you’ve got to be smart about it. You want everyone going into the season healthy and not risking anything. Guys got to compete but just be smart.”
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said last year’s incident didn’t turn them off to joint practices but joked that is why it’s only one day with the Packers. He has been speaking with Packers coach Matt LaFleur about the practice plan since the spring and the coordinators have all been in touch the last couple weeks to iron out details with the hope of a smooth session Wednesday.
“We feel like we’ve got a good plan in place and a team that we’ve got a lot of respect for, their coaching staff and their players,” Taylor said.
Scott said with so many veterans on the team that “know how to practice,” the Bengals don’t need more than a day against an opponent in practice because their training camp is pretty intense as it is, just competing against one another.
There’s also less chance for players to let tempers flare over after just one day.
“I think that’s smart,” Scott said. “It’s just that time of year. Like I mentioned, guys are kind of eager to go up against another color and show what they can do, and there’s no relationship or connection. It’s hot outside, so all that stuff kind of happens. You’ve also got to take into account teams practice different so what might be a full thud-tempo for one team, one guy might be seen as going too hard or doing too much, stuff like that, so that’s where you usually start to see the spillover fights and everything after.”
FRIDAY’S GAME
Packers at Bengals, 7 p.m., NFL Network, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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