The New York Giants and Detroit Lions got their joint practices off to a roaring start with several all-out brawls on a hot, summer morning in East Rutherford on Monday.
In his pre-practice media session, Lions head coach Dan Campbell perhaps foreshadowed the day’s events.
“We’re competing. But we’re evaluating this like a game. If you do something that would cost us a game, that’s part of your evaluation,” Campbell told reporters. “But we’ve got to go. We’re not tiptoeing, either.”
And there was no tiptoeing. It looked as if the Giants were ready for just about anything the Lions were going to try.
Gotta love the fight in the Giants today. They aren’t gonna be a doormat.
— TheGiantsWire (@TheGiantsWire) August 5, 2024
The first of multiple fights broke out when Lions rookie defensive back Morice Norris hit Giants running back Eric Gray so hard his helmet came flying off. While Gray was down the teams had to be separated.
Even quarterback Daniel Jones, who head coach Brian Daboll has put no restrictions on, got into the action.
Brian Daboll angry at a #Lions D lineman for batting a Daniel Jones pass. Next play C Greg Van Roten & a Lions D lineman start fighting on the ground. First one in to hit the Lions lineman? DANIEL JONES. Fight escalates. Coaches have to hold Jones back from re-entering #Giants pic.twitter.com/5XskjHflSR
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) August 5, 2024
The scrimmage was filled with even more jawing and shoving as the day went on before the brawls — approximately eight of them in total — shut practice down about 20 minutes early.
Caught the end of the final fight. GM Joe Schoen, on the left, ran onto the field to help break it up.
Mercifully, a fight-filled Giants-Lions joint practice is now over.
Tune in tomorrow morning for Round 2 🥊 pic.twitter.com/had12zunLG
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano) August 5, 2024
Talk about a wild day in East Rutherford. But if you’ve been looking for the Giants to show some fight, they certainly did on Monday with legends like Tom Coughlin and Michael Strahan in attendance.
