The Jets, the Commanders and Robert Saleh's rule about punching people at joint practices

The tab came to $200,000 in fines by the NFL for both the Giants and Lions after their two fight-filled joint practices earlier this week. Now the Jets and Commanders are joining up, and so the question is, will Thursday’s practice also turn into a fight card and become another fine mess?

Coach Robert Saleh expects a little extracurricular contact in Florham Park, New Jersey, when the teams meet up in advance of their exhibition opener Saturday at MetLife Stadium, but he isn’t sweating over it.

He has a rule for the Jets to abide by: Don’t punch a Commander (or any opposing player down the road, or even a teammate in practice).

“I’m not overly concerned,” Saleh said via Zoom before Wednesday’s walk-through session. “Are there going to be a couple of shoving matches? I’m sure.

“But you know our rule here. We do our best not to punch. I know we haven’t been great at it [Tuesday with three fights in practice]. But that’s the big rule. Just don’t punch. You’re going to get these shoving matches. But like I’ve told our guys, if you throw a punch, you’re kicked out of a game, so don’t do it in practice.”

Skirmishes amid joint practices in broiling summer temperatures aren’t rare. The fines, like what happened with the Giants and Detroit, seem rare. But the NFL reportedly sent out a memo to teams last month that the fighting at joint gatherings is unacceptable.

“I think that’s the furthest of what teams are trying to get done,” said Tyrod Taylor, the Jets’ new backup quarterback. “It’s really about competing and keeping it within the whistle. Obviously … guys have been practicing, or in training camp, for at least two weeks, so emotions are high. The energy is high.

“Any time you get a chance to go against another group of guys that’s not your own brothers and your own family, it’s going to be a part of that. It’s some of that even when you’re going against your own guys. But it’s more of protectiveness when you’re going against another team.”

Saleh doesn’t mind it happening sometimes between his own guys.

“As a coach, you always want your team playing with a little bit of edge,” Saleh said. “Are the fights the result of guys going too hard or is it a result of guys playing cheap? If the frustration of one another is because one guy is just going so hard and you’re getting your butt kicked and so you have this natural reaction to fight back and you start swinging, well, good. You probably needed that. You both needed it.

“So fights happen for many different reasons. But if it’s because you’re competing your tail off and you guys are just sick of competing because it’s been 10 days now or whatever the heck it’s been and you’re sick of seeing this big ugly human in front of you and you’re going back and forth and you’re battling every day [and] that’s the result of why there’s a scuffle, that’s fine.

“It’s really not a big deal to me.”

Quinnen Williams sees value in practices against big humans in different uniforms.

“You get a lot of stuff out of them, especially when you’re going against a great receiving corps that [the Commanders] have. [It's a] a great running back [Brian Robinson] and a great rookie quarterback [Jayden Daniels] that they have … and great offensive line,” the Pro Bowl defensive tackle said. “[You're] going against a different body frame, a different body type, a different person, different attributes, a different scheme.

“So to be able to apply what you learned throughout the two weeks we’ve been in training camp and to apply it [against] another team in a game atmosphere aspect is going to be a good thing.”

Pass rush excelling

Edge rusher Haason Reddick continues to hold out, but Williams likes what he has seen from the pass rush, mentioning Will McDonald, Micheal Clemons, Javon Kinlaw and himself. “Just to really focus in on the pass rush so far, it’s been good,” Williams said. “Every single day, we try to get better. … So I can’t wait to see it on a real actual game day.”