Devin McCourty, Matthew Slater explain why fights broke out at Patriots-Panthers joint practice

BOSTON -- When Matthew Slater arrives at work, he's not looking to get into any fights.

"I mean look, I ain't fighting. I've got four kids, my wife's out here," Slater said Wednesday. "What do I look like? I'm 36 years old. I'm not throwing no punches."

While that type of mentality from Slater is obvious to anyone who's observed his career over the past 15 years, the veteran team leader nevertheless couldn't hold back from letting the Panthers know that some lines had been crossed during Wednesday's joint practice session.

In a practice that featured multiple fights for the second consecutive day, Slater said that Kenny Robinson standing over a clearly injured Kristian Wilkerson was simply not acceptable.

"When you see a teammate down on the field -- I've been around this game for a long time, and I think anybody that plays at this level understands when a guy is out, they know what that looks like. And I don't think that's the time to celebrate. I really don't," Slater said. "Look, I don't have a problem with the hit. I didn't see it, but I think it was clean, from my understanding. But I don't think we should ever celebrate when someone is down and clearly in a dire situation. And I personally take issue with that, any one of my teammates. And I don't want us doing it, on the flip side of that, if somebody else is down with clear signs and symptoms of a significant injury. So that was my issue with it, and that's why I responded strongly the way that I did."

Slater -- along with special teams coordinator Cam Achord and other members of the Patriots -- were furious with Robinson after the play, which resulted in Wilkerson requiring a cart off the field and reportedly leading to an evaluation at a hospital. Slater said the obvious symptoms that Wilkerson was displaying should have stopped Robinson from celebrating the way that he did.

"When you have a teammate who is hit, he's down, there's clear symptoms of what has happened to him -- we all know what they look like as football players. He's demonstrating those symptoms. And then you have players celebrating that act. I take an issue with that. And I don't have a problem saying that. That's an issue," Slater said. "And I don't care if it's in a game situation, and certainly in a practice situation, that's not OK. ... When you see a guy down the way that Kristian was down, and you see guys responding the way that certain guys are responding, I mean, I've been in this game a long time. That's not how you do it."

Not long after that scuffle, another fight broke out right in front of the stands, as Christian McCaffrey took issue with a hard hit from Deatrich Wise. That fight spilled into the front of the stands, endangering the fans who were in attendance for the session.

While that teamwide altercation certainly looked bad from afar, Devin McCourty explained that not everybody involved is actually in there trying to hurt anyone.

"Listen, it comes down to being in there with your teammates. I think that's how every individual on this team is. And listen, [the Panthers are] the same way. That's why almost everything that happens, you guys see and it looks like a big [scrum] because every player goes in there to make sure that another player's safe. But it's a part of it."

While nobody suffered any injuries during the actual skirmishes, both McCourty and Slater seemed to suggest that joint practices like these ones are not always the best idea.

"It is what it is. I mean listen, football's not really meant to do kind of joint practices," McCourty said with regard to the physicality.

"These joint practices, I mean, you've been seeing them for years across the league. I don't know what we expect," Slater said. "I mean, look, I know we're trying to come out here and get better and compete. But I mean, ever since I've been in the league, you see joint practices, there are fights. So I mean, our union and the league think this is a good idea to keep doing 'em, so we'll keep doing 'em. But I mean, I'm not surprised when stuff like this happens."