It’s a good thing Patriots coach Bill Belichick views training camp fights as no big deal, because he had more of them to deal with today.
Just as they did at Wednesday night’s practice, two more fights broke out today between the offense and the defense in 11-on-11 drills. According to ESPNBoston.com, seemingly every player on the team was involved, either with pushing and shoving or with trying to step in as a peacemaker to stop teammates from pushing and shoving.
Offensive lineman Ryan Wendell and linebacker Bobby Carpenter were in the first battle, and undrafted rookies Darrion Weems and Marcus Forston were in the second.
“Competition is good, fighting is not,” Carpenter said afterward. "[There’s a] fine line between taking it to the whistle and taking it a little bit beyond.”
After the fights, Belichick made the entire team run three laps around the field, and then Tom Brady called a players-only huddle. Brady may have told his teammates that on a 90-degree August day, they need to cool it -- especially when their actions lead to everyone running extra laps.