New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones on the field with Carolina Panthers safety Jeremy Chinn during New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers combined training camp on Tuesday in Foxborough, Mass. Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Midway through Tuesday’s joint practice, Patriots wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson finished a catch on Carolina’s sideline during a period that pitted his offense against the Panthers defense.
But before Wilkerson could return to his huddle, he was held up.
A couple Panthers defensive backs and one assistant bumped the third-year wideout and jawed with him. Wilkerson, who had been grabbed after the whistle in a prior drill, returned verbal fire and then became involved in a shoving match. The shoving escalated immediately into a brawl that pulled both team’s entire rosters onto the field and had Pats wideout Kendrick Bourne throwing punches.
The brawl dissipated within 30 seconds, though Wilkerson, Bourne and Panthers safety Kenny Robinson were kicked out.
Moments after their exit, more extracurriculars resulted in Pats backup center James Ferentz and Panthers defensive tackle Phil Hoskins getting tossed. Hoskins jumped on Patriots offensive lineman Arlington Hambright after Hambright had finished a block to the ground near Carolina’s sideline during an 11-on-11 period. Ferentz pleaded his case that he hadn’t thrown a punch, but to no avail.
At that time, the Patriots and Panthers gathered in separate huddles with their coaches at the center. The message was simple.
“We can’t fight in a game, so we can’t do it in practice,” said running back Damien Harris.
Pats Coach Bill Belichick and Panthers Coach Matt Rhule had agreed before practice to kick out any players who fought.
“We came here not to fight, we came here to practice,” Rhule said. “It shows the maturity of a lot of other guys that it didn’t escalate into a big thing. For us, it was a couple younger guys. We’ve gotta get better. We don’t want anyone to get hurt.
A few minutes after huddling, players on both teams returned to practice and finished without a skirmish.
“We’ve just gotta control our tempers,” said Pats wide receiver DeVante Parker. “When there’s 30 guys over there, we’re going to go over there and see what’s going on. … But can’t be (fighting). That’s really it, really.”
PATRIOTS CORNERBACK Joejuan Williams will reportedly miss the upcoming season with a shoulder injury.
Williams was selected by the Patriots in the second round (45th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft. He was the sixth cornerback selected.
Belichick said before the practice Tuesday that Jones is still being evaluated.
Last season was Williams’ best of his career, playing in 12 games and picking up 15 solo tackles, but the former Vanderbilt standout has struggled to find consistency during his first three years in New England.
Williams has carved out a role on special teams during his time with the Patriots, but has yet to live up to the expected potential of a second-round selection, playing in only 36 games up to this point.
The cornerback position was already a question mark coming into 2022 for the Patriots following the departure of second-team All-Pro J.C. Jackson during the offseason.
With Williams going down, there will be plenty of opportunities for Jonathan Jones, Marcus Jones and Terrance Mitchell to get more snaps during the season at the outside corner spot.
RHAMONDRE STEVENSON must be doing something right. And listening to Belichick on Tuesday, it’s not just when it comes to running the football.
Belichick was full of praise for his second-year back, but most notable was his description of Stevenson as a pass-catcher.
With three-time Super Bowl winning third-down back James White now retired, was Belichick possibly hinting at Stevenson filling the role? Or perhaps sharing it with multi-purpose back Ty Montgomery, who has also seen plenty of time in that spot.
“He has done a really good job improving his pass-game skills, starting with blitz pick-up and protection,” Belichick said with regard to Stevenson, essentially describing the skillset of a typical third down back. “His route-running . . . . He has good hands and catching the ball has never been an issue. Setting up defenders. Recognizing coverages. When to sit down, when to break, and depending on what the pattern is, how to maximize the distribution on the pattern.”
Along with his improved skills in blitz pickup and the passing game, Stevenson figures to improve on a stellar rookie season which saw him rush for 606 yards (4.6 average) with five touchdowns.
He also caught 14 passes for 123 yards.
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