The New York Giants went from running plays to squaring off, ready to rumble in the middle of the field. Punches were thrown and helmets — and players — tossed aside. And they haven’t even made it to minicamp yet.
“The heat got to us,” edge rusher Brian Burns said Thursday after the Giants’ sixth practice of organized team activities. On a day when temperatures reached around 90 degrees with high humidity, tempers flared toward the end of a voluntary practice session.
First, Burns and left tackle James Hudson started pushing and shoving each other before the two took off their helmets and squared up as if they were going to fight.
“I would say it was just a conversation that we had,” Burns said with a grin. “Same old (stuff).”
Players intervened and Burns and Hudson were sent to their sidelines by coaches.
But on the next play, edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux and offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor got into it and Thibodeaux took a swing at his teammate. That led to more pushing and Hudson charged off the sideline and tackled Thibodeaux — and Burns joined in as he and a few players ended up on the ground.
“I mean, it’s just, it’s a violent sport we play,” Burns said. “You know, guys trying to get better. Tensions raised a little high. The heat is getting a little hotter, so guys get a little more agitated. But it ain’t that deep. We squashed it.”
But it also ended practice.
After the skirmishes, coach Brian Daboll huddled the team and the on-field activities were done for the day.
“I feel like it’s healthy, at times,” Burns said. “I feel like it’s healthy to a certain extent, though. You still want to get your work done at the end of the day, but that competition and that dog, that edge, that we need to have is needed. Got to keep it up.”
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And it wasn’t necessarily the first time tempers have flared. Sort of.
“Yeah, this happens all the time,” Burns said, making light of the situation. “We fight over food, we fight over ping-pong, pool, whatever it is. It happens all the time. This ain’t nothing but a little brotherhood.”
Burns insisted teams need to have an edge, but it can’t get in the way of the work that has to be done.
“The only thing I’m mad about is we had to go ahead and call it up,” he said. “But, I mean, we got most of our work done today. But I just want to stay away from that and I’m going to let it be known to the team, like, that’s not what we’re doing. We’ve got to keep our minds set on the main thing, which is football. All that horseplay and all that stuff is cool or whatever, a nice edge and everything like that, but we do have to get to the details and get our work done.”
Quarterback Russell Wilson, who’s in his 14th NFL season and first with the Giants, downplayed the heated ending.
“I think we’re all competing and trying to be the best version of us and everything else,” Wilson said. “A lot of times when you have a long practice like the way we did, the way we’re working, things happen. Every great team I’ve been on, there’s been a couple of those. … Nothing to worry about.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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