Fights Continue at Patriots and Titans Joint Practice

Things got chippy yet again at the joint practices between the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers. After a Tuesday session that saw two fights and five ejections, things quickly escalated Wednesday morning.

A melee on the first rep of #Panthers first team offense vs #Patriots first team defense. McCaffrey got tackled near the sideline, threw the ball at a defender and then all hell broke loose. Deatrich Wise appears to have been ejected. Bad look for both teams.
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) August 17, 2022

Christian McCaffrey, the Panthers star running back, is right to be a bit defensive. After two consecutive injury-marred seasons that saw him miss a combined 23 games, he can't afford to pick up any unnecessary nicks or bruises at this time of year. But it wasn't just the All-Pro getting in on the action. Apparently, Kenny Robinson and Kristian Wilkerson had a sequel to yesterday's fracas:

Kenny Robinson, who got kicked out of practice for fighting Kristian Wilkerson, just lit up Wilkerson in a return drill. Looked like he knocked him out.

Patriots ST coach Cam Achord went after Robinson. So did Ronnie Perkins and multiple Patriots, including Matthew Slater
— Mark Daniels (@MarkDanielsPJ) August 17, 2022

Typically, joint practices are put together by organizations on good terms. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick praised Panthers head coach Matt Rhule going into the week, indicating their relationship of mutual respect and admiration went all the way back to Rhule's days at Temple. Clearly, the love fest has not trickled down to the players. That makes more than a half-dozen ejections in two days.

The Patriots and Panthers are set to play this coming Friday at 7 p.m in Foxborough. It's not often the second week of pre-season has a game that feels like a heavyweight fight, but if this week's practices are any indication, the heat between these teams is real, and it may just spill onto the field at Gilette Stadium.