Jets ‘Bail’ On Joint Practices After Ugly Session With Buccaneers

The New York Jets are in the news again. Are you surprised?

It’s been a busy week in East Rutherford, N.J. (first time for everything), as the Jets signed four-time Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook, continued their very-public training camp escapades through HBO’s “Hard Knocks” and welcomed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to town for a pair of joint practices.

Oh, about that.

The Jets and Bucs cancelled their second joint practice session Thursday, forcing Tampa Bay to move across the street to work at the New York Giants’ practice facility. The cancellation was apparently agreed to in March, but comes after a testy first session Wednesday.

There reportedly were more than six fights during the session, which escalated after Buccaneers wide receiver Russell Gage was carted off the field with a non-contact injury. Things got so bad that Jets cornerbacks coach Tony Oden was hospitalized after he was rolled up on by one of his own players.

“That’s the most I’ve ever seen,” Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans said Wednesday, per team-provided video. “I don’t know if it’s because we were only going to practice against them one day or what. But this is the most I’ve ever seen in a joint practice, and I’ve had a lot of joint practices in my career.”

The Jets and Buccaneers aren’t the only two teams to tussle at camp, as New England Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings was kicked out of practice Thursday for his role in a fight against the Green Bay Packers.

It’s almost as if pitting professional athletes (who are fighting for their livelihoods) against one another in an environment with little-to-know control isn’t going to end well.