CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Fists flew at the joint practice between the Jets and Panthers on Thursday.
Jets coach Robert Saleh has been stressing to his team that he did not want any fights in their three joint practices, but he could not stop two fights from breaking out with the Panthers.
The first fight occurred when Panthers receiver Terrace Marshall caught a touchdown pass over Jets cornerback D.J. Reed in a red-zone period.
Reed was flagged for pass interference on the play and fell to the ground after Marshall made the catch. Marshall then flipped the football at Reed on the ground, drawing the ire of the Jets.
Safeties Chuck Clark and Tony Adams were soon running toward Marshall, and players from both teams began pushing and shoving.
Reed picked up the ball and raced toward Marshall, throwing the ball in his direction.
Later in practice, Jets defensive end Micheal Clemons seemed to hold on to a Panthers running back a little too long.
Soon, an offensive lineman and Clemons were going at it, with Clemons throwing haymakers.
At the end of practice, it looked like things might get heated between the two teams again as they stood opposite each other with players yelling, but it calmed down quickly without any more pushing or shoving.
Fights at joint practice have always been a concern, and the Giants and Lions recently were fined $200,000 each for the fighting that happened between their teams at a joint practice. Saleh spoke about fighting before the practice.
“I’m not worried about it,” Saleh said. “You’re always going to get pushing and shoving; that’s going to happen, guys get competitive out here, but the reality is that the fighting usually happens on the second day, when teams go in and they talk about whether they won or lost, and then they come out with a little bit of edge, and so that’s why we’re — at least speaking for us, New York — we’ve always been proponents of just doing it once.”
Jets defensive captain C.J. Mosley was asked his opinion of Haason Reddick asking for a trade before he has even practiced with the Jets.
“Don’t really have an opinion,” Mosley said. “He hasn’t been here. We haven’t really talked about it as a defensive unit. It hasn’t really come up on our end … So I mean no disrespect, but it’s just something that that’s not really our focus because we have to get ready for the season.
“So when he comes — if he comes — we’re going to be here. We’re going to be the same people. You’re just going to have to adjust and learn really quick on what we have to do. But if not, I’ll just say it is what it is.”