Jameis Winston made his presence felt in a hurry Thursday, and not in the calm, backup-quarterback way the Giants probably had in mind. During a joint practice with the Miami Dolphins, Winston jumped into an early skirmish, flattened a Dolphins player and appeared to throw a punch, helping turn a small dust-up into a full-scale brawl.
The whole thing escalated fast. Video from the field showed Winston charging into the fray, and moments later he was the one taking a punch to the face. Coaches and teammates moved quickly to pull him out of the pile as the chaos spread to other spots across the fields in Miami Gardens.
Giants starter Jaxson Dart saw enough to know exactly what was happening in real time.
“I didn’t see what happened,” Dart said. “I just looked over and saw the red 19 jersey and I was like, ‘I gotta go. I gotta go help my boy!’”
The fights didn’t stay confined to one pile, either. Several players on both teams threw punches as the session unraveled. Dolphins offensive tackle Austin Jackson was ejected after swinging, and Giants right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor was also held out after contact to a facemask.
Giants coach John Harbaugh said the teams had agreed beforehand on rules of engagement meant to keep the practice physical without letting it spin out of control. That clearly didn’t hold once tempers flared.
“In this sort of an environment, you have these rules of engagement that aren’t really rules of the game,” Harbaugh said. “And then somebody else goes over the line… and somebody needs to protect somebody and that’s where it goes.”
Harbaugh said the Giants handled punches the same way they would in a game, with players who threw them sitting for stretches. Winston left the field for a few plays after the main melee, and Eluemunor’s day ended early as well.
“We decided that anybody that threw a punch in those scrimmages would be treated like the game,” Harbaugh explained. “That’s why Jermaine didn’t practice toward the end.”
Even with the mayhem, Harbaugh said the Giants still got quality work out of the session and left in a better spot than when they arrived. The heat in Florida only seemed to pour gasoline on the fire, and similar joint-practice fights have popped up around the league this summer.
Winston’s instinct to jump into the middle of it fits the reputation he’s built as a fiery teammate. The Giants and Dolphins will see each other again Saturday in a preseason game, and after Thursday, the physical tone has already been set.
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