Tempers flared during the Sunday practice at Eagles camp.
According to Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News, a nasty fight broke out when linebacker Ryan Rau stood over guard Danny Watkins and punched the back of Watkins’ head, which led the entire offense to jump in to take Watkins’ side, creating a giant pile. Rau didn’t sound particularly remorseful afterward.
“I don’t care who it is; I’m not going to let anybody push me around,” Rau said.
Another fight started with defensive tackle Derek Landri and offensive tackle Demetress Bell, then spread to some of their teammates. Landri said afterward that the skirmish was a good sign of good competition.
“No question, emotions are high,” Landri said. “Everybody wants to be at their best. Mediocrity is not acceptable. Everybody is going as hard as they can. Sometimes you get the better of a guy, sometimes he gets the better of you, and things kind of escalate from there. At the same time, we know where it all ends. It’s done and we move on to the next day.”
Eagles quarterback Michael Vick jumped in to try to break things up when the linemen were fighting, but he admitted after practice that it would probably be wise for him not to get in the middle of a couple of 300-pounders going at it. Training camp fights are commonplace, but quarterbacks are wise to leave the fights to the big guys.