Fight-filled Packers-Seahawks practice includes one ejection

GREEN BAY, Wisc. — Tempers flared, punches flew and one player was kicked out during a fight-filled joint practice Thursday between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks.

The two-hour session at the Packers’ practice facility was marked by roughly a dozen skirmishes, including a few that escalated into full-on fights. Packers right tackle Zach Tom was kicked out after one of them, having exchanged punches with Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV and cornerback Devon Witherspoon in what quarterback Jordan Love described as one of the bigger fights he has seen in his career.

“I think when you get both sidelines clearing, it’s tough,” said Love, who sat out of that drill as he continues to recover from left thumb surgery. “Try your best to break it up and things like that, but it’s going to happen, man. I don’t know. There’s no answer for that.”

According to Tom, his fight began when Jones entered Green Bay’s huddle, attempting to go after a Packers ball carrier after the two had gone at it the previous snap.

“It’s already disrespectful that they’re in our huddle,” Tom said, “and then somebody gets hit while we’re in the huddle, got to have some pride, you know?”

Asked whether he was OK with the decision to kick him out of practice, Tom said: “I feel like, yeah, I can have better control — not throwing punches — but I don’t know. It is what it is, you know? I can only control what I can control.”

It wasn’t much more peaceful on the other end of the field, where Seattle’s offense and Green Bay’s defense repeatedly tussled during 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 periods. A Packers defender took a swing at Seahawks right guard Anthony Bradford during the most heated of those incidents.

The final 11-on-11 periods went off without incident, but immediately after practice ended, players from both teams converged in the middle of the field and began jawing at each other. That resumed moments later as the Seahawks were making their way inside.

“I didn’t appreciate in general them coming to our sideline while practice was over,” Seahawks defensive tackle Leonard Williams said. “We’ve already broke the huddle, guys are on our side, their guys are on their side, and people are coming over. It’s hard with these joint practices because stuff like that always happens. You don’t want it to happen but it happens. We try to avoid it as much as possible, but I didn’t appreciate it.”

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, who spent the entire day with Seattle’s defense, didn’t sound overly upset about the fighting. He began his post-practice media session by thanking Packers coach Matt LaFleur and the organization for hosting them. When asked whether he was OK with all the fights, he said he’s somewhere in the middle between being concerned and accepting that they’re a reality of joint practices.

“It’s hard to tell what happened, who said what,” Macdonald said. “Look, you want your guys to defend their [teammates]. There’s a line. Whether we go past the line, I don’t think we did, which is good. Our guys stayed composed. But some of these things do tend to happen, and however it gets started … hopefully it’s not our guys, but people are going to react to a certain extent. I think our guys handled it pretty well.”

Love, who had thumb surgery Aug. 12, took part only in individual drills and 7-on-7. He said he made sure to stay clear of the fighting under the circumstances.

“I’m kind of just roaming around, making sure everybody’s straight and just seeing kind of what’s going on,” he said. “But definitely — especially right now with the injury — I’m not going to be getting into any scuffles right now, so I’m going to stay away.”

Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold gave a joking response when asked what he does in those situations.

“I’m getting right in there, man,” he said. “That’s my time to shine. I’m getting right in the middle of it.”

ESPN’s Rob Demovsky contributed to this report.