After weeks of practicing against each other in Oxnard, California, tempers boiled over at Cowboys training camp Wednesday.
With Dallas not conducting joint practices this offseason, it was their own offense and defense at each other’s throats on the final day of training before departing Southern California.
"We ain't taking no s--- from nobody -- all 32 teams -- we ain't taking s--- from nobody," said veteran safety Jayron Kearse after practice, via the team’s official website. "Whether it's our offense or the next offense. We're trying to show we're the best in the business, so it gets spicy out here, it's gonna get spicy on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays; whenever we line up, that's how we're gonna come."
The first kerfuffle began during a drill between offensive lineman Brock Hoffman and defensive end Sam Williams, with center Tyler Biadasz coming to Hoffman’s defense to slam Williams to the turf, which sparked a massive scrum.
Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn calmed things down after the first fight, but the peace didn’t last.
The next melee involved Micah Parsons and Biadasz. The All-Pro linebacker threw at least two punches at the center’s helmet before Dak Prescott came in and calmed him down.
"Hell yeah, I need that," Parsons said. "I'm here to make them better. I push myself to the greater good and me pushing myself is only gonna make them better, at the end of the day. I don't care who I'm up against. I don't care if it's Tyron (Smith), if it's Zack (Martin), if it's Tyler Smith -- I'm gonna beat the hell out of them.
"It's only gonna make them better. … This is where championships get started -- right here in camp. The goal is to bring that out, and the camaraderie, to bring it all together. It's only one goal at the end of the day."
Parsons noted his hand was fine after striking the helmet.
It’s not unusual for tempers to flare during camp, even between players on the same team. The everyday grind can get to even the best -- particularly when there is no other opponent to release the rage on yet.
"It's our last day out in Oxnard, and maybe that's what it was," Kearse said. "… Either way, it's all good competition and, come September 10, it's gonna be another team on the opposite side of both [our] offense and the defense, and they're gonna have to take what we're bringing to them."
The Sept. 10 opponent: the New York Giants.
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