Cowboys & Saints Fined $500k By NFL For Actions At Joint Practice

NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports the Cowboys and Saints have been fined $500k each for actions that took place at their joint practice earlier this week.

Garafolo mentions the NFL sent a memo before camp to remind teams of their responsibility to prevent unsportsmanlike behavior at joint practices to reduce injury risk.

There were reportedly numerous fights during Tuesday’s practice, which led to Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer and Saints HC Kellen Moore debating whether they should call the session early.

“Right now, I’m in charge of fight club,” Schottenheimer joked, via the Dallas Morning News.

“We kind of had agreed that if a couple of other things happened, we would cancel it, but they worked through it,” Schottenheimer added. “Again, they settled into it, but again, there’s a discipline element to playing this football game, and unfortunately we didn’t handle that very well today.”

“We’re going to play on the edge and we’re not going to take s— from anybody. But at the same time, I don’t think [the Saints] were the only ones stirring up the s—. I think we might’ve been stirring it up as well. It was a sloppy practice all and all and it’s got to be better.”

Saints QB Tyler Shough and Dallas S Jalen Thompson both admitted they were doing their fair share of talking, and both feel their teams were pretty close to taking it too far.

“I was going out there talking crap to the guys, talking a bunch. We were out there competing every single down. That’s what we want, but we also have to manage the ebbs and flows of the game, too. And it felt that way. And I think we were able to really get some good work in,” Shough said, via ESPN’s Katherine Terrell.

“We came kind of close to crossing that [line]. I think both sides did,” Thompson said. “That’s just the competitiveness of the sport and guys working hard.”