The New York Giants admitted they wanted to use joint training camp practices to measure themselves against the physicality of a contender in the Detroit Lions. And apparently they meant that literally. Too literally, you might say, with the NFL on Wednesday fining the Giants and Lions $200,000 each for multiple fights that broke out during the teams' shared practices.
"All NFL clubs were reminded in a memo sent last month that fighting and unprofessional conduct at joint practices would not be tolerated," NFL Media reported Wednesday.
Hours into their first joint practice in East Rutherford, New Jersey, earlier this week the Giants and Lions found themselves in scuffles, with big names on both sides getting chippy during and in between drills.
The first fight to break out appeared to stem from especially handsy action on the perimeter, where Lions wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams clashed with Giants defensive backs Andru Phillips and Dane Belton. St. Brown could be seen shoving at Belton's helmet after getting nudged at the end of an 11-on-11 rep, while Phillips visibly jabbed at Williams' neckline after some post-pass contact.
Players from both sides quickly swarmed after the kerfuffle, and several could be seen throwing jabs in the commotion, including Giants cornerbacks Breon Borders and Nick McCloud. Lions right tackle Penei Sewell, who this offseason became one of the NFL's highest-paid offensive linemen, also found himself fending off several Giants in the conflict, before coaches cooled the temperature.
That was far from the end of heated exchanges, however, as a separate fight then emerged from another 11-on-11 rep, this time with the Giants on offense. Following a handoff from quarterback Daniel Jones to Devin Singletary, blockers from each side appeared to get wrapped up on the ground, and New York guard Greg Van Roten struggled to get unpinned from the ground, shoving at a Lions linemen. Jones even joined the action, putting his body into the Detroit defender before coaches pulled him from the swarm.
The quarterback's shove came one play after Giants coach Brian Daboll voiced displeasure over a Lions defender hitting Jones' arm, per ESPN, despite the veteran wearing a non-contact jersey.
Yet another mix-up occurred toward the end of practice during second-team reps, with several linemen pushing and shoving, though this one didn't escalate nearly as much, with Giants stars Dexter Lawrence and Brian Burns walking onto the field to settle the tension.
Practice came to a close not long afterward.