The New York Giants and the Detroit Lions were officially disciplined by the NFL Wednesday for a series of joint practice fights that occurred both on Monday and Tuesday.
NFL fines the Giants and Lions for fighting during joint practices
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, both teams were handed $200,000 fines by the league for violating their personal conduct policy. Schefter added that the league sent a memo last month reminding teams that fighting and unprofessional conduct at joint practices are not acceptable.
Scuffles in training camp joint practices are nothing unusual, but things reached a boiling point between the Giants and Lions when rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers was caught in a fist fight with Lions DB Kerby Joseph during Tuesday’s practice which led to an all-out brawl on the field. The previous day, the two teams fought three times, including one where Giants starting quarterback Daniel Jones was in the crossfire.
- Ranking the Giants’ 3 biggest weaknesses heading into Week 3
- Giants struck gold on free agent running back acquisition
- Giants have two of PFF’s top-10 highest-graded rookies after Week 2
Giants players denounced the notion of any personal conflicts being the result of the increased tension, and instead attributed it to the hot midsummer weather and natural physicality of training camp. However, it is clear that the intensity between the two teams is growing.
New York and Detroit open their preseason against each other at MetLife Stadium on Thursday, and it remains to be seen if the tensions between them will leak out into game action. The two teams do not meet each other in the regular season.
