Jets players brawl on sideline
CORTLAND, N.Y. -- A backup running back angrily fired the ball at a rookie safety who happens to be the son of the running backs coach, triggering a practice melee Monday that involved about 20 players -- including
Tim Tebow -- at the
New York Jets' training camp.
It started with rookie safety
D'Anton Lynn and running back
Joe McKnight, and it quickly escalated into a brawl that caused reporters to scatter and came dangerously close to fans.
Afterward, quarterback
Mark Sanchez strongly denounced the behavior.
"There's no excuse for it," said Sanchez, noting that he watched from an "advantageous" position. "There's no throwing the ball at a teammate and there's no shoving a guy out of bounds into the signs. One, it doesn't look good. Two, it sends the wrong message to our team. We want to take care of our guys ... I don't like to see it."
McKnight caught a pass near the sideline and received a hard push from Lynn, whose father, Anthony, is McKnight's position coach. McKnight fired the ball at D'Anton Lynn and came toward him, throwing a punch.
D'Anton Lynn joked that his father "was probably rooting for Joe."
They fell to the ground about 25 feet from the sideline and within seconds, there was a huge pileup a few feet from the fence that separates fans from the field. To get there, the players trampled advertising placards that lined the periphery of the field.
Tebow was one of the first players on the scene, trying to play the role of peacemaker. An angry Rex Ryan, perhaps concerned that it was so close to the fans, barged into the melee and started pulling away players.
It took only about a minute to restore order. There were no apparent injuries. Some players, off to the side, made light of the situation by taking fake swings at each other.
"Just competing ... got a little frustrated, and it just went from there," McKnight said.
Asked if he was trying to hurt Lynn, McKnight shrugged and said: "If you're fighting, what are you going to do, just love-tap him? It's a fight. It's football. Ain't nothing out of line."
