Bengals' Bernard downplays dirty hit by teammate Burfict

Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict sparked a shoving match at training camp Tuesday after he hit teammate Giovani Bernard in the knees during a non-tackling drill, but Bernard doesn't seem upset about it.

Bernard, who is returning from ACL surgery, told Geoff Hobson of the Bengals' website that there are no hard feelings.

"That's my man," Bernard said. "Tez is Tez. He's going to play the way he plays. That's my buddy. That's my dude. It's just early in camp getting some frustration out. That's football."

Regardless of Bernard's good attitude about the play, Bengals coaches surely won't allow Burfict to continue taking shots at teammates.

"We don't want to take the backs to the ground and get somebody hurt," defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said of Burfict's hit. "When it's a live drill we can do that. It's a different story. We can't do it on Sundays so we shouldn't do it out here in my opinion."

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