Giants training camp erupts in massive fight, viral image emerges after punches thrown
The season hasn’t started yet, but the New York Giants aren’t waiting until the live game to get physically active.
Several Giants players exchanged blows on Monday. Tensions began to boil when star running back Saquon Barkley dropped his shoulder and CB Aaron Robinson hit harder than expected. Things escalated from there as OL Jon Feliciano and LB Tae Crowder started a massive scrum that quickly spiraled out of control.
Jon Feliciano and Tae Crowder Fight!!!!! Feliciano also hit Crowder afterwards pic.twitter.com/xS54LBeNw8
— Bobby Skinner (@BobbySkinner_) August 8, 2022
New head coach Brian Daboll is trying to bring a new mentality to the Giants from his previous stint with the Bills, but that may not be what he had in mind. Feliciano won the grand prize at the Stupid Olympiad by hitting linebacker Cam Brown on the head when Brown pulled Feliciano out of the fight.
Offensive line coach Bobby Johnson also got involved and shoved Brown.
The tussle comes just a day after Feliciano praised the culture of New York under Daboll versus Buffalo, though it was done in an interesting way.
“The last place I was we were like an eyesore,” Feliciano said of his time in Buffalo, from which he was released in March, per Bills Wire. “It’s different here. [Daboll] was really honest and gave us love so it was great.”
Feliciano lost his starting spot at Buffalo last season after a battle with COVID-19.
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Feliciano was a good sport after a photo of him being pulled from the pile went viral immediately.
This picture 😂🤣😂🤣 https://t.co/G2O13guC9K
— Jonathan Feliciano (@MongoFeliciano) August 8, 2022
While there are undoubtedly some cultural concerns — the Giants are no strangers to boot camp struggles — Daboll seemed to be handling things differently than his predecessor, Joe Judge. He kept everyone in practice and didn’t get the team up and running, opting instead to talk to them afterwards.
“At the end of the day, [Daboll] says that ‘losing teams do that,'” Giants TE Daniel Bellinger said, per Sports Illustrated. “So, at the end of the day, we have to get out there and be physical, but we have to be smart too.”
According to Bellinger, Daboll didn’t mind aspects of it. “He liked the physical part,” he said. “He wants to go on and play hard – just play smart too.”
Around the NFL, Jamaal Williams delivered an impassioned speech Monday to break up the Lions’ post-practice crush, setting a slightly different tone than the Giants’ fists.
New York went 4-13 last year and ended up in the NFC East basement. They open their preseason on Thursday against the New England Patriots at Foxborough.