The New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers got into a huge fight during a joint practice on Wednesday, which led to the fan suffering a minor injury, according to Patriots reporter Tom Curran. The fight started when Patriots defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. hit Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey during 11-on-11 drills. McCaffrey was not happy with the hit and threw the ball at Wise, which is when both teams went after each other.
The video of the fight shows Panthers players going after Wise and his teammates near the fans who were sitting in the bleachers. The players were thrown into the fans, and a woman got hit in the foot with a player’s helmet. The woman refused medical attention after speaking to Patriots officials, according to Curran. She was offered tickets to a game this year.
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“First of all, it’s unfortunate on a day of so much good football; I know the storyline will be about what happened,” Panthers head coach Matt Rhule said, per the team’s official website. “The decisions of one or two people impact a lot of people. My thoughts are with the woman that was hurt over there, hopefully, she’s OK.”
McCaffrey shared his thoughts on the fight after practice. “It gets a little chippy out here sometimes. That’s the way it goes,” he said, per Fox News. “It is what it is. A little scrum. It happens. Football’s football. You go to these joint practices — it’s part of the game.” He also talked about his teammates having his back. “It’s pretty cool,” McCaffrey continued. “It makes my job easy knowing you’ve got guys in your corner. So I’m proud to be a part of that huddle.”
Earlier in the day, another fight took place after Panther safety Kenny Robinson put a big hit on Patriots wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson during a kickoff drill. Robinson then stood over Wilkerson and taunted him, leading to some pushing and shoving. Wilkerson was taken off the field on a cart due to the injuries suffered on the hit. Robinson, who was kicked out of practice on Tuesday for a fight with Wilkerson, was walked off the field by an assistant. The two teams are having joint practices ahead of their preseason game on Friday at Gillette Stadium in New England.
