Jacksonville Jaguars coach Gus Bradley has played down a clash between Justin Blackmon and Jason Babin during their pre-season opener on Friday.

Blackmon was upset with a tackle by Miami Dolphins cornerback Nolan Carroll and his remonstrations escalated to the point where teammate Babin felt it necessary to step in, prompting an angry reaction from Blackmon.

Bradley insists that the incident was smaller than it may have appeared, but he is still keen to ensure that something similar doesn't happen again.

"I'm not going to say that there was [nothing] between Justin and Jason Babin, but it was more like, 'Just back up when Gus is telling you to back up'. It's one of those things, and it probably appeared bigger, but it was a lot smaller than what I initially thought," Bradley told reporters.

"I just told [Blackmon] to spend time encouraging our guys [rather] than getting caught up in that. Why add that to the game already? You're falling into that. That's not what we want on the sidelines and when I approached him in my office and talked to him about that, he understands, but it still happened.

"We'll talk about it as a team and say that's not who we are or what we want to become, so we'll take it out of our game."

Blackmon is currently sidelined with a groin injury but could return to action as soon as next week.