When the Carolina Panthers invited retired cornerback Charles Tillman to practice this week, it was in part to teach their young cornerbacks his patented 'Peanut Punch.'
And this is why they practice.
When receiver Devin Funchess on Tuesday caught a slant against Daryl Worley in a 1-on-1 drill, the rookie corner tried to punch the ball out. Instead, he connected with Funchess' neck.
When Funchess took exception, the two went to ground. They wrestled for a few seconds while defensive coordinator Sean McDermott and assistant defensive backs coach Curtis Fuller tried to break it up. When the players stood up, Funchess maintained his grip on Worley's face mask until he took his helmet off.
"(It was) a misunderstanding," said coach Ron Rivera afterward.
"I had an opportunity to talk to both guys afterwards and they're pretty cool with it. It's just Devin understanding that the young guy's trying to do something."
Tillman spent the early part of Monday and Tuesday's practices working with Worley and his fellow defensive backs on the technique that helped Tillman cause 44 forced fumbles in his 13-year career.
As Worley's missed punch proved, it's not a skill someone can master immediately.
"We were just working on our techniques," Worley told BBR. "But it's football. People are going to go at it — testosterone — we're all grown men at the end of the day.
"There's no hard feelings. It's behind us. We don't hate each other or nothing."
When Funchess was asked about the incident, he told reporters:
"You're just trying to start a story that doesn't need to be started. Nothing happened. It's just football."
And while Tillman's in town to teach the defensive backs, Rivera hopes Funchess also learned something.
"You can understand Devin getting upset about it, but he's got to understand what's really trying to happen out there," Rivera said.
"In the game, it's going to be the same thing. You can't lose your composure because you don't want to get a flag, you don't want to get tossed. We don't want to lose a good player because of a play like that."