National Football League

Aaron Donald at center of Rams-Bengals joint practice brawl

Updated Aug. 25, 2022 6:51 p.m. ET

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It appears there's no love lost between the Rams and Bengals following their matchup in Super Bowl LVI.

The two teams got into multiple fights in a joint practice on Thursday, with a massive brawl finally ending their workout. 

In an earlier skirmish, Bengals offensive tackle La'el Collins threw Rams linebacker Leonard Floyd's helmet back at him, according to several reporters who were present in Cincinnati. 

In the final fracas that ended practice, Rams star defensive tackle Aaron Donald could be seen swinging a Bengals helmet at a Cincinnati player. Images and video from the fight show Donald holding two Bengals helmets at one point, with one in each hand. 

Rams coach Sean McVay said afterward that he wasn't sure what caused the fights. 

"I think in some instances teams defending each other," McVay told reporters. "Fortunately, my understanding is nobody got hurt, and we'll move on from it. Not going to make a bigger deal than what it is. Not going to look at pointing fingers."

Thursday was actually the second joint practice between the two teams before they play each other to close the preseason on Saturday. 

Bengals coach Zac Taylor didn't want to "get into what happened," but he was satisfied with how the two practices went for his squad.

"It got a little scuffly, and so we just called it," Taylor said. "We were in the last period. We got two really good days of work in. Was it worth getting the extra couple of plays? No. So we called it off. We got two good days of work in and we'll go play on Saturday."

The NFL cedes control to the teams on overseeing conduct in joint practices, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. So, any discipline from Thursday's fights would likely come from the Rams and Bengals. 

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Aaron Donald

Los Angeles Rams

La'el Collins

Leonard Floyd

Cincinnati Bengals

National Football League