There have already been several training camp fights around the NFL this year and the New York Giants added to that total on Monday during a chaotic morning at camp that saw an all-out brawl almost break out.
According to the New York Daily News, tempers started to flare between the offense and the defense after a play where Saquon Barkley lowered his shoulder while running into cornerback Aaron Robinson.
The Giants' defense didn't take too kindly to Barkley's actions and that's when the fights started breaking out. On the two plays immediately following Barkley's hit, there were two more scuffles with one of them even involving an assistant coach (Bobby Johnson).
Giants practice getting crazy. Begins after Saquon Barkley lowers shoulder on CB Aaron Robinson. Next two plays involve scuffles. OL coach Bobby Johnson gets involved, pushing with OLB Cam Brown. C Jon Feliciano and Brown threw straight haymakers at each other (with helmets on).
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) August 8, 2022
Things didn't start getting truly ugly, though, until Jon Feliciano and Cam Brown started going at it.
According to the Athletic, here's what happened once those two started fighting: "Brown dragged Feliciano out of the scrum and [offensive line] coach Bobby Johnson pushed Brown. Then Feliciano punched Brown in the head."
No matter how ugly things get, you'll almost never see an assistant coach go after a player.
Johnson apologized on Tuesday for his role in the fight.
"The incident [Monday], I take full responsibility," Johnson said during a regularly scheduled news conference, via Jordan Raanan of ESPN. "I'm remorseful. It can't happen. It won't happen again.
"I've apologized to the appropriate people. In particular, Cam. I have to be better than that. It's not what we're looking for. It's a regrettable incident that can't and won't happen again."
In the video below you can see the moment where things nearly turned into a bench-clearing brawl. The offensive and defensive players on the sideline both rushed to the field after Feliciano and Brown starting throwing punches at each other, which happens near the beginning of the video.
Jon Feliciano and Tae Crowder fight!!!!!! Feliciano ended up swinging on Crowder after the fact too pic.twitter.com/xS54LBeNw8
— Bobby Skinner (@BobbySkinner_) August 8, 2022
According to Newsday, new Giants coach Brian Daboll brought the team together shortly after the scuffle, which appeared to calm things down. This is the second time in five days that there's been a huge fight at training camp. Things also got heated during an Aug. 3 practice session that ended with Daniel Jones at the bottom of a pile.
On one hand, when you're a new coach like Daboll, you definitely want to see some fight in your team. On the other hand, though, you don't want them fighting each other.
The Giants will finally get a chance to take some of their hostility out on someone else this week when they play their preseason opener, which will come on Thursday against the Patriots (7 p.m. ET, NFL Network).
