Saints Head Coach Sean Payton has a message for his players: You fight, pack your bags.
With fights running rampant in recent joint practices, Payton is trying to avoid them at all cost and avoid his team being the next headline. The Saints are due to practice with the New England Patriots and according to sources, due to majorly his respect for Belichick, Payton wants the practices to be about making the teams better, not fighting.
Via NFL.com:
Payton had a special message: If you decide to fight during practices, as has become a sudden trend during joint sessions across the league, you should pack your bags.
“That’s unfortunate when you see it happen with other teams,” Payton said. “And clearly when you put a team on television like ‘Hard Knocks’ and then practice with someone else, we’ve seen that formula happen two years in a row. So that’s nothing new.”
“It’s a big reason why we’re practicing with them (Patriots) a third time,” Payton said. “We know it’s gonna be about improving both teams. We’re both trying to do the same thing at this period of training camp.”
Hopefully, no one from other team ignites a fight; I think fans and teams have had enough. Injuries have been piling up without fighting, no need to incite one on yourself and hurt not only your team but fans.