Lions camp observations: Temperature, tempers run hot first day of joint practices

East Rutherford, N.J. — Here are some observations from Monday’s joint practice between the Detroit Lions and New York Giants.

● While the two sides got in plenty of good work, the morning practice was defined by a number of post-whistle kerfuffles. It was hardly surprising given the added intensity of seeing another team for the first time, the number of jobs hanging in the balance, the high temperatures and equally high humidity.

My attention was focused squarely on Detroit’s defense throughout the day, but the roar of the crowd still alerted me to multiple, bench-clearing scrums on the far field, where the team’s offense battled the Giants defense. That included the first and biggest fracas, which started when Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown took offense to the ball being punched out late by a Giants defender.

On the side with the Lions defense, coaches moved to cool the temperatures by ending an 11-on-11 segment a couple minutes early after rookie safety Morice Norris delivered a punishing hit to a Giants running back on a dump-off over the middle.

Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn did what he could throughout the day to keep things from spilling over, but Alex Anzalone, Jack Campbell, Josh Paschal and Levi Onwuzurike all found themselves in the middle of some shoving matches as the morning progressed.

Honestly, I lost count, but wouldn’t be surprised if the skirmish tally hit double-digits. As we walked off the field to set up for post-practice interviews, MLive’s Kyle Meinke quipped, ‘We might be the only ones out here who didn’t throw a punch today.’

I was able to snag Anzalone heading to the locker room to gain his perspective as a veteran leader.