Eagles’ Jason Kelce: ‘I crossed the line’ in brawl during joint practice with Colts

The final practice of Eagles training camp ended with a sideline-clearing brawl between Eagles players and the visiting Indianapolis Colts.

The scuffle capped off a prickly joint practice Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex and was ignited by Eagles center Jason Kelce, who leveled Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin in response to a hard tackle on running back Kenneth Gainwell.

Kelce was immediately swarmed by a handful of Colts defenders and thrown to the ground as both sidelines cleared and a massive, unquantifiable scrum of NFL players crowded the field, barking back and forth, with coaches trying to diffuse the situation unsuccessfully for a few minutes.

“It’s just Kelce being Kelce,” Gainwell said after practice. “Being a professional and taking care of his brothers. ... It means a lot, it means I can trust the guy when I go on inside zone and run the ball.”

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After cooling off, Kelce eventually came back out from the locker room to express remorse for the fight, saying he took a “cheap shot” on Franklin out of frustration.

“It was an intense day,” he said. “I think we [Eagles] all love each other a lot, and I’m just up here to let everyone know, including the [Colts] guys in there, that I crossed the line.”

“I think tensions just got the better of me. We try and keep things civil on the field and I think, for me, I pride myself as being a guy that sustains the emotions and level of play out there and I let my emotions get the better of me. That certainly doesn’t belong out there on the field. I’m just a little bit ashamed that it got to that level and that I did what I did.”

Kelce’s fierce block against Franklin, a Philadelphia native starting his sixth season with the Colts, was only a small part of an ever-escalating practice against former Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen’s new team.

There were multiple scuffles earlier in practice, one between receiver A.J. Brown and Colts safety Julian Blackmon and another between defensive end Derek Barnett and a handful of Indianapolis offensive linemen.

Brown had the first kerfuffle of the day when he caught a pass on a slant route and received a late hit from Blackmon across the middle. Brown shoved Blackmon, but the two were quickly separated and the tension quickly diffused.

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Barnett’s scuffle was more intense. He “sacked” Anthony Richardson during a team session and, instead of letting the rookie quarterback throw a pass a second later, knocked the ball out of his hands.

The Colts’ offensive line, particularly guard Quinton Nelson, took exception to Barnett committing the cardinal sin of touching the starting quarterback and tried to wrestle Barnett to the ground. Barnett eventually squared up against a Colts player before a handful of Eagles players, including Jalen Carter, swarmed the group and created a scrum of bodies from each side.

“It’s football,” Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean said. “It just boils down to being football, everybody is out there practicing hard, it’s camp grind, hard practices, and a lot of athletes on the field, everything just got in the mix.”

Earlier disagreements aside, Kelce’s dustup started with a handful of Eagles seemingly taking exception to some extra physicality at the end of plays during the final team session. The two sides were jawing at one another in the lead-up to the fight, which featured the Eagles’ starting offense against the Colts’ starting defense in a pseudo-scrimmage.

Kelce said he didn’t talk to Franklin after practice in case tempers were still too high. Franklin told reporters he admired Kelce because of his local roots and noted that he didn’t see Kelce coming at the end of the play.

He also hinted that he might seek retribution during the teams’ preseason game at Lincoln Financial Field Thursday.

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“Obviously growing up in Philly, watching him play for a long time, a lot of respect for him,” Franklin said in an ESPN video. “I talked to him a little bit after we played him last year. I thought the OGs would at least look me in the eye before, but it’s all good, I might get a chance to look him in the eye on Thursday, so it’s OK.”

Kelce dispelled the notion that the heated nature of joint practices or any ulterior motive to fire up his teammates played into his decision to level Franklin. He said he just lost his head.

“When your temper is flaring that much, you’re not [scheming,]” Kelce said. “That’s part of the problem ... it comes down to what you’re feeling in your own head, you’re not thinking about the global aspect of this and the team and the offense. I think when you make a split-second decision like that, a lot of that is your own anger and emotion getting the better of you, so I think it’s actually the opposite. It’s not thought out.”

That said, there do seem to be at least some Eagles, including Gainwell, who thought the fight could be constructive for the group.

Each of the Eagles’ joint practices this summer, the two last week against the Cleveland Browns and Tuesday’s session against Indy, have all been spirited contests with some dustups.

“We’re not going to let nobody come in our house and take over,” Gainwell said. “We’re going to continue to work hard each and every day, and we whooped their [butt].”

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said it was encouraging to see the team stick together in the fight, but seemed frustrated that practice ended about 10 minutes early because of the fireworks.

“You definitely want that in a team,” Hurts said. “And things get competitive, but — just want to practice.”