The Rams and the Las Vegas Raiders ended two days of joint practices in predictable fashion.
With a fight.
As their teams engaged in a seemingly never-ending scuffle Thursday, Rams coach Sean McVay and Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden called it a day.
The Raiders headed to their buses. The Rams huddled with McVay before running a few plays as a finale.
“I’m glad that nobody got injured,” McVay said. “It’s unfortunate we didn’t get to finish up.”
Scuffles are endemic to joint practices, at least for the Rams. Since returning to Los Angeles in 2016, most of the joint practices with the Chargers, Dallas Cowboys and Raiders have featured punches.
In 2017, former Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson slugged Chargers receiver Dontrelle Inman in the head. Nickell Robey-Coleman, another former Rams cornerback, shoved Inman to the turf.
A few weeks ago, Rams star defensive tackle Aaron Donald scuffled with Cowboys guard Connor Williams.
Donald did not participate Thursday, having been given a veteran’s day off. But after several fights broke out Wednesday, Donald said he was not surprised by the outburst.
“It’s football, man,” Donald said. “Honestly, every joint practice I’ve ever been a part of, there’s always a fight. But the way how things happened [Wednesday], how physical it was, I was pretty sure it was going to come back and be a lot of B.S.”
The fights began during a special teams drill. It appeared to start on the interior line after a play, but tempers seemed momentarily cooled as other players intervened. But then it started up again, bringing players and coaches from the adjoining field into the mix.
It once again appeared tamped down before flaring again, causing McVay and Gruden to end the workout.
“When there’s an all-out scuffle and you’re yelling, ‘Hey, get back, all right that’s it, get on the bus,’ we’re kind of all agreeing that hey this is the end of practice,” McVay said.
Despite the ending, McVay said it was valuable workday.
“We didn’t get exactly everything that we anticipated which is a little bit of a bummer,” he said.
The two practices with the Raiders, coupled with a joint practice with the Cowboys, will serve as the only live reps for starters and other important players during the preseason. Rookies and reserves once again will play Saturday when the Rams play host to the Raiders at SoFi Stadium.
McVay said the opportunity to work against different players and schemes was valuable.
“We definitely got some good work in,” he said.
Other observations from the joint practice:
— After having three passes intercepted Wednesday, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford looked sharp, completing several impressive passes to receivers Cooper Kupp and Van Jefferson. The running game also was more effective. “It was a much more crisp day for the offense,” McVay said.
— Kupp made the play of the day with a one-handed catch on a route in the middle of the field.
— The workout was closed to the public, but some Raiders fans still got a bird’s-eye view by walking the trail of a hill that abuts the practice facility.
— Rams rookie linebacker Ernest Jones made a good play breaking up a pass.
— Rams cornerback David Long did not practice because of a groin issue, McVay said.
— Left tackle Andrew Whitworth was given a veteran’s day off. Joe Noteboom played in his spot.
— Cornerback Jalen Ramsey said that after reviewing film of the Wednesday workout he could not see what precipitated social media posts that credited Raiders receiver Hunter Renfrow with having a big day against him, posts that Ramsey responded to on Twitter. “I get that sometimes mentioning my name going against certain receivers may give them buzz and may pump them up some,” Ramsey said after practice Thursday. “This is no disrespect to Hunter Renfrow because I actually think he’s a pretty good player. I think he has some Cooper Kupp in him. But I didn’t have no issues [Wednesday] watching the film. I played pretty well, so maybe people just need to learn the difference between zones and man and schemes. But I mean it doesn’t really bother me, but sometimes I feel like you’ve got to set the record straight … and then you just leave it at that you tell people to enjoy their day.”
