One of the ugly brawls that broke out during joint practices between the Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots this week was sparked by a ruthless special teams hit, and a video has since surfaced of the cheap shot.
Patriots players on Wednesday took exception to a hit from Panthers safety Kenny Robinson on wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson during a kickoff. The hit looked like it was up in the head and neck area. Wilkerson was motionless on the turf after the play, and Robinson stood over him and celebrated.
The video of the play is grainy, but you can see that Wilkerson had his head turned when Robinson delivered the blow. You can also clearly see the celebration, which is what set Patriots players off.
https://twitter.com/BarstoolBoston/status/1560838103228710912
Robinson was ejected from that practice and the one the day before for being involved in a scuffle. Panthers head coach Matt Rhule was asked about Robinson’s hit on Wilkerson and condemned the taunting.
“I didn’t really see the hit, but I did see him standing over the player. That’s not how we want to practice,” Rhule said, via Justin Leger of NBC Sports Boston. “Things happen in football. There were some good, clean hits, but we don’t stand over someone and taunt them.”
It is always a bad look to stand over a motionless player and celebrate. It is an even worse look to do so in a meaningless inter-squad scrimmage.
Between the Wilkerson hit and a fan almost getting injured by a defensive lineman, joint practices between the Panthers and Patriots were about as ugly as you will see.
