RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Joint practices are out of control when an easygoing, fun-loving guy like Jameis Winston is throwing punches and getting decked in the middle of a brawl.
Tempers have been flaring around the NFL as many teams are practicing against each other ahead of preseason games.
Winston was at the center of a fight between the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins on Thursday.
The Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints were fined $500,000 apiece by the NFL after a brawl-filled joint practice Tuesday.
There were several skirmishes between the San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans last week that led to two players from each team being tossed out of practice.
“It’s not a game, so you don’t have the same, quite, guardrails on it,” Giants coach John Harbaugh said. “And it’s a violent game. And so, 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 somebody needs to protect somebody, and that’s where it goes. And I think as long as it doesn’t get out of control where we get a violent type of situation, it’s fine. We decided that anybody that threw a punch in those scrimmages would be treated like the game."
The joint sessions have become the preferred way to give starters valuable repetitions in a competitive environment. Most coaches prefer to keep key starters or all their starters, in some cases, out of preseason games so facing opponents within a controlled setting has become a priority for most teams. Overall, 28 of 32 teams are holding joint practices this year.
Fights are not considered OK during joint practices
Coaches have warned their players about fighting, making it clear it’s disruptive and counterproductive.
“We don’t tolerate it,” Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. “The way I explain it to the players, every time we do one of these — you have 90 teammates in camp. Now you’ve got 180 teammates. We’re just working against each other. OK, they’re in a different jersey, a different helmet. We’re not here to fight. We’re here to get better as an individual and a team, and hopefully we’ll all treat it that way.”
Philadelphia held two joint sessions with the New England Patriots this week. There was one minor scuffle, prompting Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley to say: "I hate joint practices, to be honest.”
“More times than not nothing good comes out of it,” he said. “When you have the work, it’s good, but then you get the pushing, the shoving and someone says this about you and it’s ‘I don’t know about that but you’re this.’ It’s immature when you get to that level. I have to do a better job, too, because I’m a little troublemaker sometimes, but I was good this week.”
Fights are inevitable considering players are going at each other, talking trash, grinding in the hot sun on humid days.
It takes plenty of discipline to show restraint.
“I love joint practices, being able to play in our defense, in our style against another team,” Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker said. “Yeah, the cons are fighting, but at the end of the day, we’re professionals. ... As long as you can play the game at a high level and respect the other team, fights won’t happen."
Respect a key to keeping joint workouts professional
Baker said teams are supposed to maintain the same etiquette in joint practices as they do against each other.
“If the ball is in the air and you see the receiver in a compromising position, and I’m coming downhill on the ball, I’m not going to hit him,” Baker said. “I’m going to let him catch it and tap off. I might talk my little (trash) and tell him, ‘You probably wouldn’t have caught that.’ But you’re being a professional. You wouldn’t want to hurt your own teammates so you don’t want to hurt the opposing team in a practice.”
Fights occur when players breach that etiquette or hit a quarterback.
"You should never get close to the QB,” Baker said. “Quarterbacks are the most important position in football. Losing a quarterback in practice against another team — that's something where fights will definitely happen.”
The Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills were quite chippy during their joint practice but avoided fights. Browns coach Todd Monken said players are told they’ll be tossed out of practice for throwing punches. In some cases, they might end up playing in the preseason game as punishment when they normally weren’t going to suit up.
“There has got to be an accountability and a discipline to what we do,” Monken said. “But I also want the guys to have a mindset and a personality while they’re out there as well. It’s a fine line.”
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AP Sports Writers David Brandt, Josh Dubow, Dan Gelston, John Wawrow and Stephen Whyno contributed.
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See AP’s full NFL coverage here
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