Ben Baby Close ESPN Staff Writer ESPN Staff Writer He previously was a college football writer for The Dallas Morning News Graduate of the University of North Texas Sarah Barshop Close ESPN Staff Writer He covered the Packers for ESPN Milwaukee Graduate of Marquette University
CINCINNATI — An altercation between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams forced both teams to suspend intersquad practice on Thursday, the final day of the teams’ joint practices. Close ESPN Staff Writer
ESPN Staff Writer He previously was a college football writer for The Dallas Morning News Graduate of the University of North Texas
Close ESPN Staff Writer
He covered the Packers for ESPN Milwaukee Graduate of Marquette University
In a day filled with post-snap speculation, a melee broke out during a team drill involving the Bengals’ first-team offense and the Rams’ first-team defense. A Rams linebacker, who could not be identified from a distance, tackled Bengals right tackle La’el Collins. The defender had Collins wrapped up from behind, arms around his chest, seconds after Cincinnati’s Joe Mixon was a few yards down. Collins took exception and threw punches as soon as he was free, setting off a huge ruckus that drew many whistles and flags from the crew. Several helmets were removed, with a Cincinnati Enquirer photographer spotting Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald holding a Bengals cap in each hand. After practice, a video was released on Twitter showing Donald swinging his helmet several times during the scrum. Players from both teams were scattered throughout the practice field closest to the road that separates Cincinnati’s practice facility and Paycor Stadium. After a few minutes, the teams decided to end the controversial training session. Donald declined to comment through a team spokesman, who also said the team would not comment. 2 Related Rams coach Sean McVay said earlier he didn’t want to make too much of the fracas and said at times, it was just two teams defending each other. Both coaches talked about wanting to be safe and wanting to do the right amount of work. “I just see guys swinging and some guys have helmets, some guys don’t,” McVeigh said. “There’s a conflict. You never know what can happen. And my biggest concern is just unnecessary injuries to people that we rely on, whether it’s our team or the other team.” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said: “He just got a little confused.” “We just called it,” Taylor said. “We were in the last one [practice] period. We have two very good days of work. So was it worth getting the extra two projects? No. That’s what we called it.” It wasn’t the first time Collins was embroiled in controversy Thursday. He appeared to be involved in two other fouls with a Rams defender. On one occasion, he was replaced in a team drill by Bengals backup tackle D’Ante Smith. When asked about Collins’ role in the clashes, Taylor declined to elaborate. Cincinnati did not make players available after practice. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who was the only Los Angeles player to speak to the media, was on the opposite practice field against the Bengals’ starting defense and had no details about the incident. The two teams will have Friday off before closing out the preseason with a game Saturday in Cincinnati. Neither team is expected to play their main team in the final. Taylor said he doesn’t expect any hostilities to continue. Earlier in the week, Bengals safety Von Bell said Taylor relayed a message from team president Mike Brown about fights after an outbreak of fights at other teams’ joint practices. “You never want to make headlines,” Bell said of the message from the front office. “Keep everything clean.”
