Rams, Cowboys Brawl During Joint Practice

The Dallas Cowboys and St. Louis Rams were unable to finish their second joint practice Tuesday because of a pair of brawls that has Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones wondering if there is something the Competition Committee can do in the future to help prevent them.

"I can't imagine that we can't continue to have joint practices and get this right just like we do a lot of things," said Jones, who is on the committee with Rams coach Jeff Fisher. "But 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. I'd hate to think two teams can't get together.

"When you see the energy level out here with the fans, they enjoy it, watching the teams play. I do think we can continue to do this. I just think we have to emphasize we don't want this in our game."

The NFL has made eliminating in-game fighting a point of emphasis this year to teams, but Jones said training-camp fights were not part of the discussions.

Tuesday's brawls happened in team drills between the Cowboys defense and the Rams offense on back-to-back plays.

The first fight was triggered by Cowboys linebacker Andrew Gachkar and Rams center Demetrius Rhaney, which then led to a multi-pronged fight with a number of players, including the Cowboys' Randy Gregory, Jeff Heath, Tyler Patmon and the Rams' Jared Cook, Tre Mason, Tavon Austin and others. Defensive end Eugene Sims ran across the field and leveled Cowboys defensive end Ben Gardner.

The second fight came one play later and lasted a few minutes and led to a helmet-less Dez Bryant getting punched by Rams cornerback Imoan Claiborne. Rams rookie running back Todd Gurley, who is coming back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, was also involved.

Eventually, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett and Fisher decided to end practice. The Cowboys finished their team period against each other; the Rams sat on the adjoining field and eventually made their way to the team buses.