NFL head coaches probably don’t mind seeing their players go through some battles during the summer. But Frank Reich prefers his team’s battles to be a bit less literal.
On Saturday, the Carolina Panthers got their first training camp fight of 2023—as offensive tackle Larnel Coleman and outside linebacker Jordan Thomas engaged in a shoving match. After practice, Reich told reporters he’d prefer not to see any more of that.
“I’m not really lookin’ for any of that,” he said. “I’m not tryin’ to manufacture the emotion. It happens sometimes. And for us out there, right, it’s like, ‘ho-hum.’ It’s gonna happen at some point. But really, the energy and enthusiasm and the grit and the fight really has to come within.
“So, I think our guys have been doing that. When you have those moments there, you just move on and you stay focused.”
Thomas, a tight end-turned-linebacker, brought wide receiver C.J. Saunders down to the ground down during 11-on-11 drills—something Coleman took exception to. Luckily, fellow backer and longtime Panther Shaq Thompson seemingly mediated the situation and cooler heads prevailed.
“These guys—they know what time it is,” Reich added. “They know how to take care of themselves. And everybody knows, we’re tryin’ to accomplish something special, and we wanna do something special. We can’t one of our guys gettin’ hurt fightin’ each other. Not much made of it. They guys know it, know how to handle it and did a good job.”
So let’s just leave the fighting to the pros today, shall we?
