The plan and hope for both the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams was no fights breaking out between the Super Bowl 56 representatives.
It took just 24 hours for that to be short lived.
Tempers flared and multiple fights took place that were captured by media members who watched the joint practice in Cincy on Thursday, August 25. One NFL insider gave thorough descriptions of why the scuffles took place — particularly pointing out a heated battle involving one key new addition to the Bengals and one of the champ’s top pass rushers.
A Timeline of What 1 Bengals Insider Captured
Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer was on hand to witness three fights from her eyes. What the Bengals beat reporter discovered: Newly signed La’el Collins and the Rams’ Leonard Floyd creating a brawl that ended the joint practice early.
She captured fight No. 1 occurring at 3:12 p.m. Eastern time.
“The first little fight happened between the Rams and Bengals, hard to tell who started it on both sides but got broken up quick,” Conway tweeted.
The first little fight happened between the Rams and Bengals, hard to tell who started it on both sides but got broken up quick
Rams insider Jourdan Rodrigue revealed that the first scuffle involved L.A. defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson.
Small, and I’d say relatively mild, kerfuffle between Rams first team defense/Bengals first team offense. Broken up pretty quickly. Jacques McClendon dive right into the melee to pull away A’Shawn Robinson.
But two minutes later, Conway mentioned how “tension is heating up” between both teams — later identifying two players who got into the fight.
“La’el Collins just threw his helmet at Rams Leonard Floyd. Two little scrums so far. Tension is heating up,” she posted at 3:14 p.m Eastern.
La’el Collins just threw his helmet at #Rams Leonard Floyd. Two little scrums so far. Tension is heating up.
Then, Sam Greene of the Enquirer posted this image — which shows Collins grabbing Floyd’s helmet and ready to chuck it at the Rams.
Just 19 minutes after the first episode involving Collins and Floyd, the two veterans clearly weren’t done going after one another.
“A full out brawl has taken place at Bengals and Rams practice. It has been all La’el Collins and Leonard Floyd all day, they just went after each other again and caused a full out fight with several players falling to the ground,” Conway shared.
Practice would eventually end early for the Super Bowl 56 teams who will meet on Saturday, August 27 for their final preseason contest. But to reiterate, the Bengals’ $21 million free agent signing was who Conway identified as the man who helped end the joint practice early.
“While we don’t know what exactly was said, La’el Collins was involved in all 3 fights, mostly with Leonard Floyd,” Conway posted. “Coaches can’t be happy considering [head coach] Zac Taylor stressed no fighting and LC has barely practiced during camp and they still had almost an hour left of practice.”
While we don’t know what exactly was said, La’el Collins was involved in all 3 fights, mostly with Leonard Floyd.
Coaches can’t be happy considering Zac Taylor stressed no fighting and LC has barely practiced during camp and they still had almost an hour left of practice
Video & Photo of Aaron Donald’s Involvement Also Caught
Turns out Collins wasn’t the only one grabbing helmets.
Greene got this image captured in his camera: Rams All-Pro Aaron Donald swinging not one, but two helmets.
Video of the brawl was captured and began to spread across the internet, which shows helmets being used in the brawl:
Aaron Donald out here ripping a Bengals player’s helmet off and playing Whac-A-Mole with it 😟
This marks the second season in a row that the Rams were involved in a fight during joint practice. Last year at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, the Las Vegas Raiders and the Rams were involved in a scuffle that ended that session early.
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Insider Points Out Heated Moment That Led to Rams-Bengals Scuffle