The New York Giants and Cleveland Browns were a little more chippy on Friday than they were on Thursday, particularly Giants safety Jabrill Peppers and Browns defensive lineman Jackson.
However, after the teams were pulled together by head coaches Joe Judge and Kevin Stefanski for a cooling off period, they closed things out sans incident.
Heat is up and tempers are as well.
Both teams get a cooling off period and talking to from their head coach. pic.twitter.com/AvEPI5PhKc— Paul Schwartz (@NYPost_Schwartz) August 20, 2021
That lasted about 15 minutes…
While members of the New York/New Jersey media were meeting with quarterback Daniel Jones, Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard and Browns cornerback Troy Hill squared up on a distant practice field.
The two reportedly threw several punches before being nonchalantly broken up by their teammates –outside of Giants wide receiver John Ross, who aggressively pulled Shepard away.
Shepard, who was shirtless, and Hill could be seen being escorted their separate ways.
A clip of the end of the fight between Browns CB Troy Hill and Giants WR Sterling Shepard. #Browns pic.twitter.com/S5GYuNJhYz
— clevelanddotcom (@clevelanddotcom) August 20, 2021
Shepard and Hill had a little back-and-forth during practice that ended in a tense exchange, which may have led to their post-practice shenanigans.
Apparently Sterling Shepard & Troy Hill got into it after Giants-Browns joint practice
This occurred during practice pic.twitter.com/WOKdYUhQ1i
— Bobby Skinner (@BobbySkinner_) August 20, 2021
Shepard met with the media a few moments later and didn’t mention the fight outright. He did, however, describe the practice exchange as nothing more than “friendly competition.”
No, it’s friendly competition. That’s what we came out here for, it’s competition. It’s going to get into a talking match, it’s going to get physical out there. This is football. This is what we do. They understand that on that side, we understand that over here,” Shepard said, via NJ Advance Media.
Several Browns players also attempted to downplay the fight, claiming Shepard and Hill were just messing around.
Neither Judge nor Stefanski saw the fight but after a week of preaching to their players to keep it cool, you can bet they’re not going to be happy.
