On the first day of padded practice, New York Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett donned a t-shirt labeled “fight” across his chest in Giants text (h/t The Athletic’s Dan Duggan). Turns out the team took the message quite literally, as a massive brawl erupted during Tuesday’s training camp session, with quarterback Daniel Jones finding himself in the thick of things.
Towards the latter end of practice, running back Corey Clement took a handoff, bursting into the defense’s second-line of defense where he was met quite viciously by safety Xavier McKinney.
Tight end Evan Engram evidently didn’t take too fondly to McKinney’s actions, shoving the team’s starting safety. Logan Ryan quickly came to McKinney’s defense, delivering a blow to Engram which officially kicked off the Royal Rumble-esque scrum.
In the words of SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano, “then everybody — and I mean everybody — jumped in.” That of course included quarterback Daniel Jones, who wound up at the bottom of the pile before center Nick Gates was able to pull him out of the action.
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Giants Head Coach Joe Judge ‘Livid’
As you could likely expect, Joe Judge was far from elated by his team’s actions. In fact, it brought out a side of Judge we’ve never seen before. Which is saying a lot for the fiery second-year head coach. As ESPN’s Jordan Raanan highlighted, Judge was “furious” over the brawl, putting his team through a series of disciplinary tactics including gassers and push-ups that would make high school players around the globe squirm.
Vacchiano shared the fallout of Judge’s profanity-laced tirade in a rather entertaining Twitter thread. Have a look:
After doing 100 yard runs — and not hard enough for Joe Judge’s liking — players are now lined up on the foal line doing push ups. There is dead silence except for Joe Judge’s whistle and his expletives. … So many expletives.
Giants players are running goal line to goal line again … and again … and now back to push ups. Joe Judge is doing his best Herb Brooks imitation now.
Now Joe Judge gathered his players around him … and sent his coaches away. He wants them all to himself.
And now practice is mercifully over. Wow. I’ve never seen Joe Judge that angry. Actually I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anyone that angry.
My Sports Update’s Ari Meirov also shared a flurry of tweets from Giants insiders and beat reporters who had an up-close and personal front-row seat to watch things unfolding in real-time.
Jones & Ryan React
Thankfully, the Giants’ starting quarterback came away from the skirmish unscathed, telling CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones “I was fine. All good.”
The 24-year-old signal-caller went on to discuss the fallout from the team’s brawl. “Yeah, there are consequences for that kind of stuff,” Jones told reporters, via Giants Wire. “That is the way it is in a game. You have to keep your cool. There are consequences and it hurts your team. That was the message. I think everyone understands.”
Meanwhile, while Jones took the expected route with his comments, Ryan was far less apologetic when speaking with reporters.
“At the end of the day I’m going to defend my teammates,” Ryan said. “I’m gonna pay my punishments. I don’t regret anything I did out there. I’m a grown man and I’m gonna pay my dues.”
“[It] wasn’t my first time part of a training camp fight. Wasn’t my first lap, wasn’t my first F-bomb, my first pushup. I’ve been in there for quite some time,” he added. “It’s not necessary all the time but I understand there is a lot of passion out there. And I’ll take passion.”
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Daniel Jones in Middle of Massive ‘Full-Team Brawl’, Joe Judge ‘Explodes’