Patriots, Panthers Players Ejected After Brawl Breaks out During Joint Practice

The New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers are holding joint-practices this week leading up to their preseason game on Friday, and it didn't take long for tensions to boil over.

The two teams reportedly had two fights in Tuesday's practice, including a huge brawl that resulted in three ejections. According to Mark Daniels of USA Today, a total of five players, three of whom were Patriots, were tossed from the practice.

Per Daniels, the issues between the two teams began early during full-team drills. During the second period, Patriots receiver Kristian Wilkerson began getting into it with some Panthers defensive backs following multiple instances where they held onto his jersey after the whistle was blown.

Wilkerson was reportedly shoved by an unidentified Carolina assistant coach, which was immediately followed by the receiver being "grabbed by multiple Panthers players and later punched." A New England offensive player joined the pile, and then Patriots receiver Kendrick Bourne was then seen "squaring up and throwing punches with another Panthers defensive back."

Wilkerson, Bourne and Panthers safety Kenny Robinson were all kicked out of practice.

Soon after the fracas, Patriots offensive tackle Trent Brown and Panthers defensive end Brian Burns got into a verbal exchange. Not long after that, Patriots center James Ferentz and Panthers defensive tackle Phil Hoskins were seen fighting after the whistle because "it appeared Hoskins slammed Ferentz to the ground." Ferentz and Hoskins were ejected from practice.

"We came here not to fight. We came here to practice," Panthers head coach Matt Rhule said. "It shows maturity in a lot of other guys that it didn’t escalate into a big thing."