[ad_1]
BEREA, Ohio – The Giants almost walked out of the Browns’ training facility without a fight.
Almost.
After practice was over, with some Giants players heading for the team bus and others speaking to the media for post-practice interviews, a scuffle broke out across the pitch.
It was between Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard and Browns cornerback Troy Hill. It is not known what led to the brawl, but an Associated Press photographer showed NJ Advance Media a sequence of photos of what happened. It showed both Shepard and Hill clashing and throwing punches at each other, though it’s not clear if he landed any.
Video footage has since social media leak of the end of the fight which shows Giants wide receiver John Ross getting in between Shepard and Hill, and lifting Shepard off the ground away from the stage. Giants offensive lineman Matt Peart stood in front of Hill to stop him from chasing Shepard.
After the fight, a passionate Shepard took off his shirt and headed for the buses alongside Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton.
To make things even stranger: Shepard conducted his post-workout media interviews with the New York and New Jersey Giants, who had spoken to Daniel Jones on the other end of the facility when the fight took place place.
Shepard approached the media without a shirt, and a Giants public relations employee found one to wear for his interview. The first question was whether he was surprised that no brawls broke out during training despite all the chatter that had transpired throughout training.
His response: “No, it’s a friendly competition. That’s why we came here, it’s competition. It’s going to get into a conversation match, it’s going to get physical there. It’s football. This is what we do. They understand that on that side, we understand it here. “
Next, Shepard was asked how much he values that competitiveness.
“We had an idea yesterday, but we didn’t have the juice we had today, but that’s what it is. That’s why we came here: to get a good job. I feel like that’s what we got today, ”Shepard said.
After practice, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski was asked about the Shepard-Hill fight and said he didn’t even know it happened.
“I haven’t. This is news to me. Thanks for breaking this on me. I don’t know,” Stefanski said.
At one point in practice earlier today, Giants coach Joe Judge and Stefanski rallied their players after a few players – especially Jabrill Peppers and Browns lineman Malik Jackson – particularly turned out to be close to a dust. Nothing happened after that – until Shepard’s fight.
Earlier in training camp, the judge made it clear that he has a zero tolerance policy for fights during training when a full squad fight took place after Giants safety Logan Ryan, tackled tight end Evan Engram from behind. Daniel Jones found himself at the bottom of the pile.
And then, as punishment, Judge finished training by forcing the team to perform several gasses in the field and perform 30 push-ups – twice.
After practice, Jones was asked why he thought there was no fight in training on Friday.
His response: “You were all there when we fought. “
It is not yet clear if the Giants intend to punish Shepard for what happened. The Giants and Browns meet in a preseason game Sunday afternoon.
Subscribe now and support the local journalism you rely on and trust.
Zack Rosenblatt can be reached at [email protected]
[ad_2]
Source link