The Broncos had a fight at practice on Tuesday. On Wednesday, however, coach Sean Payton wasn’t willing to use the “F” word.
“Let’s call it a tussle,” Payton told reporters. “I got a chance to watch the film. There were no punches, it was just a tussle.”
There’s still a lesson to be learned from the tussle, given the rule change that allows 345 Park Avenue to trigger ejections for actions that officials missed in the heat of the moment.
"[W]e covered [it] last night,” Payton said. “What’s new — from an officiating standpoint — this is our first season where they can go to replay in New York and remove a player. So with that being the case, it’s going to be hard to be the guy that gets the first jab. They’re going to be able to go to replay and get it right. So we discussed that and we had examples of shoving and then the officials just getting bumped, you’re ejected. All of it we kind of covered, especially with the replay now being changed and it’ll be the first season we have that.”
It’s a great point. In the past, the second guy to throw the punch tended to be the one who got caught. Now, the league office can watch the play and take action against anyone/everyone who did something that merits disqualification.
With the issue being a point of emphasis this year, it’s important for all coaches to emphasize the importance of not letting an NFL game become an MMA fight.
