The joint practices are usually held with the aim of letting two NFL teams know more about each other. Players can use the opportunity to practice with their upcoming rivals and gain valuable on-field insights from them. However, Maxx Crosby and Cam Akers could not maintain their composure on the field during the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Rams’ recent joint practice as the two were involved in a heated altercation during the session.
This is not the first time such an incident has happened as the Rams and Raiders brawled during their joint practices in 2019 at Napa and it was once again repeated in 2021 at Thousand Oaks. The Rams did the same thing with the Los Angeles Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys during their past summer training camps as well.
Maxx Crosby and Cam Akers throw punches during practice
According to the Raiders beat writer for The Athletic Tashan Reed, the incident started when Crosby tried to punch the ball loose during a running play. He attempted to punch the ball out of Akers’ hands at the end of a play, albeit the Rams’ young star didn’t stand quiet and instead, sparked a skirmish. The later story is all about punches and Akers was ejected from the practice while Maxx was banished for the rest of the drill session.
Fight: #Raiders DE Maxx Crosby fights #Rams RB Cam Akers.
They threw punches, per @tashanreed
Cam Akers had to go inside after the fight.
Another joint practice fight, we had one with the Jets/Bucs, had a couple with Commanders/Ravens too. pic.twitter.com/jgymHuQ1ji
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 16, 2023
Rams coach Sean McVay didn’t have much words to say about the fight, albeit he was glad it ended soon.
“I didn’t see exactly what happened when there was a little bit of a skirmish but, got it separated, it wasn’t an issue and we were able to get everything that we wanted accomplished and that’s the important thing.”
Following practice, Crosby blamed Cam for being too soft saying, “S**t, I was just doing what I do. He didn’t like that. So he got what he got.”
Aker delivered his take on social media with a series of posts saying Maxx threw a cheap shot during the session.
“Somebody ask him what it was I got? Anybody with eyes saw what happened,” Akers posted on social media.
Somebody ask him what it was I got?Anybody with eyes saw what happened 💀😂 https://t.co/jOqmTZ1uyC
— Cam akers (@thereal_cam3) August 16, 2023
However, in a following tweet, the RB vowed to be “smarter”, especially after being forced to get back to the lockers early that day.
Other incidents of training camp fight this NFL season
The major brawl between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Jets ahead of their upcoming preseason game on Saturday was very intense and even Gang Green’s head coach Robert Saleh decided to cancel the second day of joint practices with Tampa Bay.
“The second practice is when the team that knows they kind of got beat, they go into their meeting rooms, and the coaches are yelling at them, and then they come out and they play with a little more edge, and it pisses each other off and all the melees happen.”
A huge dust-up also took place between the Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Tylan Wallace and the Washington Commanders’ first-round rookie cornerback Emmanuel Forbes during their joint practice. Following the incident, another major brawl happened between Ravens tight end Mark Andrews and the Commander’s cornerback Danny Johnson.
Besides joint practices, a heated altercation took place in the Dallas Cowboys training camp between the team’s defense and offense where multiple players like Sam Williams, Brock Hoffman, Tyler Biadasz, and DeMarcus Lawrence along with other Cowboys players got into a fracas on the field.
What’s your take on these fights during the training camp? You can share your thoughts with us in the comments.
