Colorado's Deion Sanders shares surprising stance on practice fights

There are many coaches who have little tolerance for fighting among teammates during practice, but Deion Sanders is not one of them. In fact, he prefers it.

Sanders spoke on “The Colorado Football Coaches” show Thursday about the week of practice Colorado has had leading up to its game against No. 23 Arizona. One thing he said he is pleased with is that some fights broke out.

“We’ve had a great week of practice. We had a couple of fights, which I like,” Sanders said, as transcribed by Sean Leahy of Yahoo Sports. “It’s a great thing. I always want to know who won because I keep records. I don’t break them up. Some coaches break them up. I don’t.”

Sanders said he viewed this week’s fights like “rededication” amid a tough stretch in the schedule.

“I love it. They’ve been getting after it,” Sanders said. “It’s almost like a rededication. It’s almost like a refocus. I love where we are. We’ve had great practices this week, offense, defense, as well as special teams.”

It is not uncommon for coaches to kick players out of practice or discipline them in other ways for fighting with teammates. Sanders takes a much different approach. He has even scolded players before for not taking part in skirmishes that break out.

After a dream start to the season, Colorado has lost three straight games and five of its last six. The Buffaloes desperately need a win on Saturday. Sanders is hoping the hostility during practice will translate to a better performance on game day.