The New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers are holding joint practices this week ahead of their preseason matchup, and tempers flared during the first session.
Several players were ejected from practice on Tuesday after multiple fights broke out. The first appeared to start after Patriots wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson caught a pass near the Carolina bench. Some jawing back and forth turned physical, and several Patriots players ran over to get involved. Reporters who were in attendance said Wilkerson had his helmet ripped off during the melee and teammate Kendrick Bourne threw punches at Panthers players.
You can see the two teams swarming together in the video below:
The first scrum led to Bourne, Wilkerson, and Panthers defensive back Kenny Robinson being kicked off the field. A few plays later, there was another heated incident between Patriots offensive lineman James Ferentz and Panthers defensive tackle Phil Hoskins. Both players were also ejected by one of the officials overseeing the joint practice.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Panthers head coach Matt Rhule called their players together after the second fight and told everyone to knock it off.
There is no known bad blood between the two teams, but this certainly is not the first time we have seen things get heated during a joint practice.
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