Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph threw a flurry of punches at New York Giants rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers, who threw the first blow with a right hand to Joseph’s facemask on the way back to the huddle on Tuesday during a joint practice between the teams.
Nabers didn’t make it back to the Giants’ side of the 10-yard line during the red-zone work and took four or five shots to the helmet from Joseph, a third-year safety from Illinois.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll had addressed the Monday fights in joint practices before the practice where the second scrum took place Tuesday. Monday’s joint workouts at Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J., were cut short by multiple fights.
One involved quarterback Daniel Jones, who rushed into the fracas but also was scolded by Daboll, who told him, “What are you going to do in there? Just stay out.”
Lions coach Dan Campbell also removed players from the scrimmage portion of practice after altercations.
“When you have to stop practice that many times, it wastes everybody’s time,” Campbell said.
Nabers has been dominant in joint practices. He caught nearly everything in sight against the cornerbacks and safeties Detroit put in front of him on the first two days of practice, but he was ushered to the side by Daboll after the Tuesday fight.
The No. 6 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of LSU, Nabers had two touchdowns in team work and was the one player neither defense could contain in both practices.
He easily got behind former college rival and Lions rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold in man coverage for a 20-plus yard score down the left sideline. Arnold, who played at Alabama, later forced an incompletion before Joseph and Nabers crossed paths and got into a physical altercation.
