Most coaches, players not happy about Jets, Redskins scuffle
Trumaine Johnson shoved Morgan Moses after a play, Trent Williams came to his teammate’s defense and within seconds the multiplayer melee spilled into the crowd.
And that was just Day One of the joint workouts between the New York Jets and Washington Redskins.
Tempers have flared at times between Jets and Redskins players, though things were calmer Monday after a couple of fights and a handful of skirmishes marred their first practice together. But a day of being on their best behavior could be more of an anomaly than a Kumbaya trend leading up to their third and final practice Tuesday and preseason matchup Thursday.
“A bunch of young guys. It’s to be expected,” veteran Redskins tight end Vernon Davis said. “We can’t control what the Jets are doing. They have to be on the same wavelength when it comes to going out there and practicing smart and practicing better. And if they’re not, then someone from our side is going to respond. It could get out of control.”
The majority of players and coaches were annoyed that fights overshadowed the benefits the joint workouts: getting to see action against another team outside of games. Washington running back Chris Thompson and some teammates, who were around when fights broke out with the Houston Texans at training camp in 2015, even questioned the wisdom of bringing another team in — which the Redskins didn’t do either of the past two years.
“I think you ask around the league, I think a lot of guys will probably say they don’t really care for the joint practices just because of things like this happening,” Thompson said. “There’s not many joint practices where you don’t have fights.”
Knowing the Jets were coming to town, linebacker Zach Brown said former Redskins teammate Terrelle Pryor should watch out if he makes onehanded catches. Brown said over the weekend the situation would be fine but cast doubt on Pryor practicing, which he wasn’t wrong about because the receiver revealed he broke his ankle in May and is still working to be 100 percent.
Pryor, whose operation was previously referred to as a cleanup, flashed a smile and said it’s a miracle — “it’s amazing” — he’s on the field. He doesn’t think it’s a miracle that the Jets and Redskins managed to cool down after pushing, shoving and swinging at each other Sunday.
“We’re all trying to get to Week 1 healthy to help our respective teams,” said Pryor, who won’t play Thursday at Washington. “We’re handling it professionally and we can take care of that on the field on Thursday, the hitting and all that. But right now let’s get better. Let’s make each other better.”