Rams-Raiders joint practice has its first fight and ‘punches were thrown’

It didn’t take long for a fight to breakout at the joint practices between the Los Angeles Rams and Las Vegas Raiders, which was to be expected. Except this time, it wasn’t Aaron Donald.

According to Tashan Reed of The Athletic, who covers the Raiders, defensive end Maxx Crosby was chasing running back Cam Akers and attempted to punch the ball loose. Reed noted that “the play was basically dead”, which was the cause for Akers to take offense to playing after what he might have assumed was the whistle and that “punches were thrown” in the melee.

Both sides “got involved”, per Reed, likely indicating that players other than Akers and Crosby joined the fight, and that it “eventually got broken up”.

The Rams have a history of having at least one fight in joint practices, although I believe that is common for almost all franchises at this point. Players don’t get in trouble for throwing punches in practice like they would if it was a game, so when tensions go up, there’s really nothing to stop players from seeing how far they can take it. Of course, players are also hyper concerned about anything in practice leading to an injury that could cost them games, if not their jobs.

It was also said that Akers “lowered his head” or “buried his head” into Crosby after the play, which also incited further action from the Raiders defensive end. By some other reports, the Rams may need to be more worried about the offensive line than fights.