Brawl ends Los Angeles Rams-Cincinnati Bengals joint practice

CINCINNATI — A brawl between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams forced both teams to halt their intersquad practice Thursday, the teams' final day of joint practices.

On a day filled with post-snap affairs, a melee broke out during a team drill featuring the Bengals' first-team offense and the Rams' first-team defense. A Rams defender who was unable to be identified from a distance was engaged with Bengals right tackle La'el Collins. The defender had Collins wrapped up from behind, arms around his chest, a few seconds after Cincinnati running back Joe Mixon was a few yards downfield.

Collins took exception and swung punches once he was free, sparking a massive fracas that drew several whistles and flags from the officiating crew. Multiple helmets were removed, with a Cincinnati Enquirer photographer spotting Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald wielding a Bengals lid in each hand. After practice, a video circulated on Twitter appearing to show Donald swinging a helmet multiple times during the scrum.

Players from both teams were strewn across the practice field closest to the street dividing Cincinnati's practice facility and Paycor Stadium. After a few minutes, the teams decided to end the contentious practice.

Donald declined comment through a team spokesperson, who also said the team would not be commenting.

Rams coach Sean McVay said earlier that he didn't want to make a bigger deal of the fracas and said in some instances, it was just two teams defending each other. Both coaches spoke to wanting to be safe and wanting to get the proper amount of work in.

«I just see guys swinging and some guys have helmets on, some don't,» McVay said. «There's a scrum. You just never know what can occur. And my biggest