Eagles legend Jason Kelce, Colts star Zaire Franklin discuss brawl that ends practice early

Throw everything that you witnessed during the Washington Commanders versus Baltimore Ravens preseason game out. That was the exception to the rule and not the rule itself. It has long been established that NFL franchises have come to value joint practices more than they place stock in preseason games. The Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts gave their starters a workout during their session, one that precedes their game on Thursday. The starters won't play on Thursday.

That doesn't mean that we don't have much to talk about.

Jalen Hurts is phenomenal. After fumbling a snap during the final play of the first 1st 11-on-11 session versus the Colts, he recovered, picked the ball up, reset his feet, and found DeVonta Smith for a 40-plus yard TD strike. Smith leaped to make that reception by out-muscling Teez Taybor. Good luck in stopping Skinny Batman and A.J. Brown this season.

Oh, and there were also a few tussles,

The Eagles and Colts joint practice session ends with a brawl, one that Jason Kelce and Zaire Franklin both shared their thoughts on.

It's hot outside. Guys have been hitting their own teammates all spring and summer and are finally given the opportunity to hit someone else during these joint practices. As you can imagine, that's all that is needed to produce a potential powder keg.

Emotions were high on Tuesday. The Eagles and Colts weren't backing down from each other.

Things seemingly began to get tense when Derek Barnett scored a strip sack and some pushing and shoving ensued. Barnett assumes a boxer's stance, but the players were separated quickly.

Later on, Jalen Carter stripped the ball from Richardson’s hands. Colts players took exception and pushed him. Barnett swooped in to the rescue and flags started flying. There may have been a punch thrown in there as well. A brawl that came later ended things.

Colts star Zaire Franklin was the offender on this one. After pushing Kenneth Gainwell after a catch on a previous play. Gainwell offered a shove of his own to retaliate. Jason Kelce had enough. His decleater of Franklin cleared the benches. The practice session was over. Franklin states he was blindsided. Both he and Kelce offered some clarification.

Kenneth Gainwell offered his own pinions on what transpired. Hey... You have to love Kenny G's honesty.

Here's where we stand. This happens in football, but it's going to be interesting to see if the NFL steps in to make some changes to how joint practices are run.

Typically, these sessions are handled and managed by the individual franchises that participate, so when these types of incidents occur, league offices trust the teams to discipline their players. As you might expect, harsh discipline never follows.

Still, if these scuffles continue and if, Heaven forbid, a star player is injured as a result (think about Aaron Donald swinging those helmets at people's heads last year), you can best believe the powers that be will step in.

It could be something to keep an eye on. For now, however, throw this in the 'no harm, no foul' category.

Check out some of these other Eagles stories as well.