Players pulled from fight-filled Giants-Dolphins practice

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Multiple players from Thursday's joint practice between the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants were pulled for throwing punches or their physical actions during a fight-filled workout.

Dolphins offensive tackle Austin Jackson and Giants right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor were among those to be taken off the field.

Jackson and Eluemumor were each replaced for at least a series. Quarterback Jameis Winston was also removed for a couple plays after being in the middle of a scrum.

Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley said before practice that any player who threw a punch would be kicked out, and that he'd be "very, very disappointed" if it came to that.

The Giants and Dolphins had a handful of fights interrupt practice on the two fields at the Baptist Health Training Complex. At one point, scuffles occurred moments apart, with Giants coach John Harbaugh and Hafley shuffling fields to break them up.

"In this sort of an environment, you have these rules of engagement that aren't really rules of the game, and then somebody else goes over the line or they do go over the line and somebody needs to protect somebody and that's where it goes. And I think as long as it doesn't get out of control, where it gets a violent-type situation, it's fine, you know?" Harbaugh said. "And we decided that anybody that threw a punch in those scrimmages would be treated like the game. That's why Jermaine didn't practice toward the end. He didn't really throw a hard punch, but it was to the face mask. And that'll get you in the game. That's a 15-yarder at least."

Jackson threw a punch at Giants rookie linebacker Arvell Reese, and was shoved to the ground by Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux immediately after making contact with Reese's helmet.

In adherence to Hafley's rules, Jackson was removed from team drills and replaced by recently added offensive lineman Caedan Wallace. However, Jackson's removal was short-lived; he returned to the Dolphins' lineup during the final period of team drills.

Miami's defense was extra-physical from the start, knocking multiple Giants players to the ground at the end of plays. It seemed to signal the way this joint practice was headed, on both sides of the ball.

"I don't know which way Jeff's going to go about it, but we try to hold our composure as much as we can," Dolphins center Aaron Brewer said. "But when you out here playing football, it get chippy. As I said before, people are out there competing, taking it all the way to the edge. We didn't try to initiate anything, but if somebody come at you, you got to hold your ground."

The Giants had a similar approach in a practice in which outside linebacker Brian Burns declared his unit "dominant." He said they had more than six sacks of quarterback Malik Willis during the practice.

Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart also had one of his best practices of the summer, hitting several passes downfield and finding tight end Isaiah Likely consistently for solid gains. Dart also almost got into the mix after Winston was chirping during a fight and took a punch from a Dolphins defensive player.

"I didn't see what happened," Dart said. "I just looked over and saw the red 19 jersey [Winston] and I was like, 'I gotta go. I gotta go help my boy! I don't know what's going on over there.'"

The situation was quickly defused. It just temporarily stopped the action.

Still, both sides thought it was a productive practice.

"I think we leave the practice a better team than when we came in," Harbaugh said. "That was our goal."