The New York Giants and Detroit Lions are still engaged in joint practices — and for the second day in a row, fights have broken out. However, this time, the brawl erupted after players threw punches at one another.
Read more: Giants, Lions Joint Practice Erupts Into Multiple Brawls
One of the players involved in throwing actual punches is recently drafted Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers. After Nabers was blocked from catching a would-be touchdown, he passed by Lions safety Kerby Joseph, who immediately started throwing punches at Nabers.
After multiple punches were thrown, Joseph and Nabers were separated. It also appears that multiple other skirmishes occured after Nabers and Joseph were separated.
This is the second brawl that has occurred between both teams. During Monday’s practice, the two teams also engaged in a ton of pushing and shoving.
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The first fight that occurred simply showed both teams pushing one another, though it did not appear punches were thrown.
Shortly after the first fight, a second occurred. This time it involved Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. Shortly after a play was whistled dead, Giants and Lions players began to throw one another down. Jones is shown clearly throwing someone to the turf.
Jones responded to the scrum that occurred.
“A situation happens like that, you try to stand up for your guys,” Jones said. “I thought it was good competitive practice all day [Monday] and we made some plays and did some good things. There are some things we need to shore up, for sure, but good intensity and competitive spirit.”
Fights are commonplace in the NFL, but that does not mean they should be happening at all. Players involved in fights can often suffer unnecessary injuries as a result of throwing punches or simply being thrown to the ground.
More news: Lions First-Round Pick Heads to Locker Room After Taking Massive Hit From Giants OT
The Giants and Lions are rivals in the NFC, but that doesn’t mean they should be attempting to fight one another in back-to-back days.
What makes this particular fight even worse is that Nabers is a rookie. The video does not appear to show him instigating the fight, but veteran players should be stepping in and telling Nabers not to involve himself in fights such as these.
Fighting in camp can often lead to players fighting in games. That is never good, as an unnecessary roughness penalty can lead to the momentum of games being completely destroyed on whatever side committed the penalty.
This is hopefully the final fight that the Giants and Lions will engage in during joint practices.