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Atlanta Falcons players nearly made it a full week without having a fight in training camp as they jockey for position in hopes of making the final 53-man roster before Week 1.
As temperatures rise in the hot sun, so do the attitudes on the field. Tempers appeared to boil over on Sunday when several players from the offense and defense had a skirmish.
Falcons rookie edge rusher James Pearce Jr. got into it with offensive lineman Matthew Bergeron, whose helmet flew off, according to ESPN. Leonard Floyd and Kaleb McGary were also involved in a separate incident that included Pearce. Some punches were reportedly thrown in the heated battles.
Atlanta selected Pearce with the No. 26 overall pick of the draft earlier this year. It’s clear he’s trying to make an impact off the bat.
“We’re trying to develop a culture, a style of play for sure, and part of that is the violence with which we play and aggression, the urgency and all that,” Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said, via ESPN. “Today, at times, it went a little too far, and we’ve got to learn how to manage that.
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“You’re going to get agitated and, especially when you’re playing really good defense, the offense is going to get very agitated, so you’ve got to anticipate punches being thrown, things being said, people getting pushed. In those moments, you got to thrive and not retaliate and so it’s a good lesson to be learned today.”
The passion and intensity from the players is something fans have been dying to see return since Atlanta was in the Super Bowl during the 2016 season. Since then, the Falcons have only made the playoffs once and have only been over .500 once.
The Falcons were 8-9 last season as the year sputtered once Kirk Cousins got hurt. The team was sixth in yards gained, 13th in points scored and 23rd in yards and points allowed.
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