The joint practices between the Panthers and Patriots devolved into multiple fights over the last two days, but none of the scraps dredged up any bad memories from the last time the two teams played in a regular season game.
In that game, Patriots quarterback Mac Jones grabbed Panthers defensive end Brian Burns’ ankle and twisted him to the ground as Burns tried to pursue the football after stripping Jones of it during a sack. Burns’ former teammate Haason Reddick and others labeled it a dirty play and Burns said he would have liked an apology as the play sent him to the medical tent, but Jones declined to offer one because he said he thought Burns had the ball.
While Jones didn’t apologize, he said Wednesday that the two players spoke at the Pro Bowl and buried the hatchet.
“Yeah, I talked with Brian,” Jones said in a press conference. “We already made up at the Pro Bowl, and everything’s good. He’s a great player and I just love watching him on film: how he can speed-rush. He’s got good power and he’s just a great football player. He really doesn’t like to talk, he just kind of keeps getting after it and keeps getting after it and I’m kind of the same way. So, we’re definitely friends now. It’s all good.”
The same couldn’t be said for their teammates and we’ll see if bad feelings boil over again when the two teams play a preseason game on Friday night.