Skirmishes are to be expected when NFL teams hold joint practices, but every now and then, they go a step too far. That was the case in Thursday’s training camp session with the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins. Multiple altercations built up to an all-out brawl between the two teams that led to multiple players’ removal from live drills.
Giants quarterback Jameis Winston, offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor and Dolphins offensive lineman Austin Jackson missed parts of practice for disciplinary reasons. Giants coach John Harbaugh said Eluemunor threw a punch to an opponent’s face, which triggered his automatic removal, per the teams’ agreed-upon rules.
While Harbaugh had to pull a couple of his players out of action, he downplayed the extent of the fights, which are commonplace in the NFL at this stage of camp.
“It’s just football,” Harbaugh said after practice. “It’s not a game, so you don’t have quite the same guardrails on it. It’s a violent game. In this sort of an environment, you have these rules of engagement that aren’t really rules of the game. And then somebody perceives somebody else goes over the line — or they do go over the line — and then somebody needs to protect somebody, and that’s where it goes. As long as it doesn’t get out of control where you get a violent type of situation, it’s fine.”
Joint practices are some of the first opportunities each season players have to make contact with someone wearing a different team’s jersey. Pent-up aggression often boils over in these settings, and small incidents can snowball into larger fights. That’s what occurred at the Dolphins’ complex.
Earlier in practice, second-year Giants edge rusher Abdul Carter took a swing at Dolphins offensive lineman Patrick Paul.
Another dust-up involved a couple of other big-name Giants defenders. After Jackson threw a punch at New York rookie Arvell Reese, edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux threw the Miami lineman to the ground in retaliation.
Giants, Dolphins could face league discipline for fights
The NFL made it clear to teams prior to training camp that violence will not be tolerated at joint practices. In a memo sent to all 32 franchises, the league emphasized “not promoting an atmosphere for fighting or escalation of incidents; instances of player fighting will result in individual fines, club fines, and/or loss of practice.”
The Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints felt the league’s wrath Tuesday when multiple fights broke out at their joint practice. Two days later, the NFL fined the teams $500,000 apiece.
At first glance, the fights between the Cowboys and Saints rose to a level perhaps more violent than the ones in the Giants-Dolphins practice. The NFL will undoubtedly review the footage from Miami, however, and determine whether things got out of hand enough to justify penalties.
