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Punches were thrown, and one player was ejected from the Green Bay Packers-Seattle Seahawks joint practice on Thursday that was filled with tension boiling over.
It’s normal for these joint practices to have heated competition work its way into skirmishes, but ESPN reported “roughly a dozen” broke out with some of them escalating to full-blown fights.
Packers right tackle Zack Tom was the player who got kicked out of practice after throwing punches at Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV and cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
It was so physical that Packers quarterback Jordan Love believed it was one of the bigger fights he’s seen since entering the league.
“I think when you get both sidelines clearing, it’s tough,” Love said, per ESPN. “Try your best to break it up and things like that, but it’s going to happen, man. I don’t know. There’s no answer for that.”
PATRIOTS COACH MIKE VRABEL GETS KNOCKED TO THE GROUND BREAKING UP FIGHT DURING JOINT PRACTICE WITH VIKINGS
Tom told his side of the fight, where he said Jones entered the Packers’ huddle and tried to go after a Packers player following some words on the previous play.
Tom took exception and paid the price, as his day ended prematurely.
“It’s already disrespectful that they’re in our huddle, and then somebody gets hit while we’re in the huddle, got to have some pride, you know?” Tom said.
Tom admitted he could “have better control” when asked if he deserved to be kicked out of practice.
“I can only control what I can control,” he added.
But when it was time for the Seahawks and quarterback Sam Darnold to hit the field against the Packers’ defense, punches were thrown again. An unnamed Packers player took a swing at Seahawks guard Anthony Bradford during a play, while multiple altercations broke out during 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 drills.
And while things cooled down toward the end of practice, the heat only turned up again when both teams were seen jawing back and forth in the middle of the field.
“I didn’t appreciate in general them coming to our sideline while practice was over,” Seahawks star lineman Leonard Williams said. “We’ve already broke the huddle, guys are on our side, their guys are on their side, and people are coming over. It’s hard with these joint practices because stuff like that always happens. You don’t want it to happen, but it happens. We try to avoid it as much as possible, but I didn’t appreciate it.”
Players are always going to do whatever it takes to make an NFL roster, and in the final week of preseason play before roster cuts, the heat of competition can escalate to extracurricular activity.
But now coaches want to see players get hurt after the whistle, which is why Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald likes things to be somewhere in the middle.
“You want your guys to defend their [teammates]. There’s a line,” he said, per ESPN. “Whether we go past the line, I don’t think we did, which is good.”
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