The New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers decided to hold joint practices this week ahead of their Friday night preseason game, and already it’s a total mess. Tuesday marked the second day of chippiness and fighting between the teams, with punches being thrown after a rough play on both sides.
On Monday the Panthers offense was thoroughly outmatched against New England’s defense, leading to plenty of players looking to make a statement — sometimes in negative ways. After several rough hits on Monday, Carolina safety Kenny Robinson looked to make a statement, laying out a Patriots player and being kicked out of practice. The scrapping went on for much of the afternoon, with coaches Bill Belichick and Matt Rhule looking to restore order after the ended the day.
Matt Rhule: Kenny Robinson will be eligible to practice tomorrow. Rhule and Bill Belichick had agreed if guys fight, they get tossed for rest of that day.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) August 16, 2022
This did not work.
Tuesday started being even more violent, with more questionable plays. Once again involving Robinson, who was booted from his second straight practice.
It’s already getting chippy at Patriots-Panthers practice today after a big fight yesterday. Panthers S Kenny Robinson laid out Patriots WR Kristian Wilkerson in a special teams drill, causing more pushing and shoving. Next play caused another fight with big punches thrown.
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) August 17, 2022
Wilkerson had to be carted off the field and the Patriots, looking to get revenge for the play, took down Christian McCaffery which sparked a major brawl with multiple players being kicked from practice as a result.
It raises questions why teams continue to hold joint practices. The Patriots/Panthers incidents aren’t isolated. Every year teams join together for these scrimmages, and more often than not it ends poorly. Sure, there are very sound football reasons behind having a team see new competition and test depth against another NFL team’s, but in reality what you have is a bunch of hungry players, desperate to make a roster, and willing to do anything to stand out — even if that means laying out a player and getting attention for all the wrong reasons.
With the second preseason game set to take place later this week, it’s unclear whether the joint practices will continue, or whether after Tuesday’s incidents the team will elect to cancel the rest of the week and return to individual practice.
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The Patriots/Panthers joint practice has turned into fight-filled anarchy - SB Nation
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