Cowboys Vs. Rams - Commotion By The Ocean
By Mike Fisher | @fishsports
OXNARD (CBSDFW) -- A host of Cowboys believe they did the right thing, defending themselves and remaining unified against alleged cheap-shots, sucker-punches and low-blows delivered in Tuesday's combined training-camp workout by the Rams.
"The key,'' Dallas safety Jeff Heath says, "is can you re-group (after this level of massive brawl) and have a good practice. We did. We handled it the right way.''
Well, in fact, the Cowboys' "good practice'' occurred in the final minutes, after Rams coach Jeff Fisher and Cowboys coach Jason Garrett agreed to pull the plug on this joint venture, with the Rams heading to their bus and the Cowboys getting in a bit of two-minute-drill work.
"Finish the Fight'' is a Garrett motto.
But honestly, these teams couldn't even finish the practice.
Fists and helmet flew -- as did Dez Bryant's diamond earring, which was later retrieved from its grassy resting place by a security guard. Bryant (hamstring) wasn't even practicing, but his intensity was key to the conflict, as he refused to listen to St. Louis defender Trumaine Johnson's trash-talking, at one point insisting on coming out of bubblewrap to take a shut-him-up rep. (Tony Romo endorsed the idea; offensive boss Scott Linehan scooted to the scene to shut down the silliness.)
But other sorts of silliness -- violent silliness -- bubbled to the service.
Cowboys linebacker Andrew Gachkar and Rams center Demetrius Rhaney tangled, and then suddenly Heath found himself battling a trio of Rams fighters; Randy Gregory found himself ducking roundhouse punches; St. Louis' Jared Cook and Eugene Sims seemed on the hunt for not-looking victims; J.J. Wilcox was at the bottom of a pile of Rams who'd removed his helmet and then tossed it into the stands. Tyler Patmon came to the defense of Wilcox and others ...
[tweet https://twitter.com/AmazingSprtsPic/status/633845792537751552 width='330']
"All you're thinking about is having your teammate's back," says Patmon. "And that's all that matters."
Team execs disagreed. The Cowboys (and Rams) are trying to avoid football injuries. Seeing the likes of Tyron Smith, Greg Hardy, Sean Lee, Tony Romo and Dez Bryant having to break up fights, or keep their heads on swivels, or, in the case of Dez, plow into the brawl face-first (absorbing a cheap-shot fist from Rams cornerback Imoan Claiborne) risks non-football injuries -- an unneeded risk, obviously.
Says Cowboys COO Stephen Jones: "We're going to have to continue to emphasize that stuff is not what we want. It should not be a part of our game. It's not good for either team. Obviously, there are huge injury risks. We've just got to learn from it.''
True. But how do you tell Patmon he's wrong when he says he's just "having your teammate's back'''?
And how do you not giggle when Dez tweets (and then deletes): "I wish I would have cheap-shot his ass then all of y'all would have seen the difference. You can't even put that sh-t on WorldStar lol''?
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