Training Camp Fights: A Possible Alternative to Taunting

Fights During NFL Practices

Fights during NFL practices are extremely common. This is mainly due to the amount of adrenaline running through everyone’s body. They are either trying to make or maintain their roster spot to continue their professional career. There has been a run on such events this last week. Scuffles amongst teammates happen almost daily. An offensive lineman and a defensive one getting in each other’s face is a regular occurrence. Some of these spats even get physical with players throwing punches at each other. Those situations are over fairly quickly as coaches or players break those up. When teams hold joint practices though it tends to get a little chippier.

Teams practicing together has a lot of benefits. It allows players a chance to show what they can do against an actual opponent. That also gives team personnel insight into who should make the final roster or practice squad. Those also allow tempers to flare which leads to more fights. These are usually resolved almost immediately to avoid any unnecessary injuries to players. This training camp has seen an uptick in brawls though. The Cowboys and Rams had one such at a joint session almost two weeks ago. The most notable of which was an altercation between Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald and Cowboys guard Connor Williams.

Aaron Donald did not like being blocked by Connor Williams and started the first dust up of the practices between the Cowboys and Rams. pic.twitter.com/sGz6KfcukS

— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) August 7, 2021

Recent Fights

There have been several more fights in recent days. One involved the Buccaneers and Titans. This one reportedly involved Tampa Bay wide receiver, Antonio Brown. He then left the practice temporarily after his scuffle with Tennessee cornerback Chris Jackson. Three more scuffles took place after that incident.

Another fight happened that same day. This one was between the Raiders and, once again, the Rams. I am starting to think the Rams have a little bit of fight in them. If so, I like that. A team should always be willing to go to war against another. This brawl ended a little differently though. Raiders head coach Jon Gruden sent his team to the buses early. Gruden was frustrated with the practice and especially with the way his team acted. This was the culmination of the multiple skirmishes that took place.

An Additional Reason This is Happening

Disagreements are always happening around the league. This season though there may be another reason for this. I wrote about how the NFL’s new emphasis on its taunting policy is slowly killing the game. Officials are now being asked to penalize players and their teams when this occurs. This makes it difficult to show any emotion around the referees. That could be part of the reason the fights are happening in this training camp. They cannot do so on the field during a game. They can, however, do so in practice. Joint sessions give individuals the perfect opportunity to get their feelings out while not directing those towards their teammates. This may not be the same as it once was. It does however allow players to get it out of their systems outside of a game.

Closing Thoughts

This article was published on the Belly Up Sports website and specifically its NFL page. Belly Up Sports also has a Twitter page where you can interact with the network. I also have written for this outlet before so see my most recent story I mentioned if you would like. If you would like to talk to me directly, feel free to chat with me on my Twitter as well. Try to keep it clean and proper. If you are incapable of doing so, ignore that completely and battle it out with me. Just a few warnings for those who dare challenge me. I am highly competitive and hate to admit when I am wrong. So be prepared for a war of words.