Rams, Titans fight at joint practice

These teams had some feisty joint practices in 2000, months after St. Louis beat the Titans in the Super Bowl, and it did not take long yesterday morning for tempers to flare up as they gathered at the Titans' training camp in Nashville.

Rams receiver Reche Caldwell grabbed Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan in a bear hug and took him to the ground.

St. Louis coach Scott Linehan was watching his defense going against the Tennessee offense and Vince Young when he heard some of the arguments two fields over between his offense and the Titans' defense.

"We've got to limit that," Linehan said. "We can't get to where we lose our cool out here. It's that time of year. Guys aren't in very good moods out here. . . . We'll get rid of the extracurricular stuff. It wasn't anything big, a couple of little ones."

Pro Bowl defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch skirmished with Rams left tackle Adam Goldberg. After being blocked to the ground on his rush, Vanden Bosch took a big swing at Goldberg.

The head coaches tried to calm things down. But on the next play, Titans end Sean Conover tangled with St. Louis tackle Mark LeVoir, with Vanden Bosch rushing in to help, without his helmet.

"We were anticipating it, and we need that as a football team," Rams receiver Torry Holt said. "After a while it kind of got excessive as far as the banging and guys trying us. We needed that. That's something we're trying to build on - our toughness, and at the same time build on our mental toughness."

Bengals. Keith Rivers, the ninth pick of the draft, arrived at Cincinnati's camp in Georgetown, Ky., on Tuesday night while both sides worked out the details of the contract.

Terms were not immediately available on the linebacker's six-year deal. Based on the rookie contract that Jerod Mayo signed with the Patriots as the No. 10 pick, Rivers could earn in excess of $20 million if he surpasses all of his performance and playing-time incentives.

Cowboys. When it comes to Adam "Pacman" Jones' status, Dallas owner Jerry Jones is treading lightly.

The still-suspended cornerback can play in the preseason for the Cowboys, who open Saturday night in San Diego. But the team still does not know when it will find out if he will be fully reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for the regular season. "That's at [Goodell's] discretion, and I don't want to do or say anything that would imply that I'm getting anxious or pushy about it," Jerry Jones said.