Jerod Mayo Reveals Patriots’ Punishments For Joint Practice Fights

Jerod Mayo didn’t want to see the Patriots engage in any scraps Tuesday on the practice fields outside of Gillette Stadium.

Fighting comes with the territory of joint training camp practices in the NFL. It’s why Mayo signed New England up for only one shared session with the Philadelphia Eagles, as the head coach noticed fighting tends to break out on Day 2 of joint practices.

In any effort to prevent the Patriots from throwing hands, Mayo established a punishment featuring two levels.

“Look, you don’t fight in a real game,” Mayo told reporters Tuesday, per a team-provided video. “If you fight in a real game, you get fined and kicked out. It’s the same thing here. My message to the players: If you get into a fight out here — if you’re a starter — you’re going to play the whole preseason game. If you’re not a starter, you won’t play at all. So, that’s kind of my mindset with that.”

New England wasn’t able to completely stay away from dustups with Philadelphia, as Joshua Uche got into it with Eagles tight end E.J. Jenkins on a kickoff drill. Neither play was ejected from practice, though, so perhaps Uche will avoid Mayo’s punishment.

The Patriots and the Eagles will meet for a preseason tilt Thursday night in Foxboro, Mass., with kickoff set for 7 p.m. ET.