What happened between Cowboys’ Jake Ferguson and Donovan Wilson?

The Dallas Cowboys held their last padded practice of their training camp in Oxnard, California and are headed back to Texas today before hosting the Los Angeles Chargers in their final preseason game on Saturday. Unfortunately, their last practice was marred by a fight between two players - tight end Jake Ferguson and safety Donovan Wilson.

What caused the fight between Ferguson and Wilson?

It’s good to see NFL teams show passion and aggression, but violence is another story, and especially between two players on the same team. But emotions were high during the Cowboys’ final practice in Oxnard on Wednesday, and when Ferguson stiff-armed Wilson, he responded by throwing a punch at Ferguson.

Several other Cowboys players reportedly intervened and broke up the fight quickly.

Neither Wilson nor Ferguson are likely to see any playing time on Saturday as they are both starters and Dallas is expected to rest all their starters to not risk any injuries before the start of the regular season on September 8.

Wilson is heading into his sixth year in the NFL with the Cowboys, and has become a key part of their defense, racking up 101 tackles last season. Ferguson became the TE1 last year and quarterback Dak Prescott’s second-favorite target behind wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. In his third season in the league, Ferguson is looking to expand on what he did last season, when he racked up 71 receptions for 761 yards and seven touchdowns.

Ferguson actually made some comments about fighting during joint practices when the Cowboys held theirs with the Los Angeles Rams earlier in training camp. In joint practices, scuffles among players is quite normal, and every now and then you do see fights between players on the same team, but it’s never what you want to see.

“I think you know me well enough where fights aren’t too big of a deal. Emotions get high. It’s a physical game,” said Ferguson at the time. “But you try to stay away from the fights and you try to stay away from the punching, some dirty stuff, but I think , nothing’s wrong with grabbing a guy by the pads, holding him, looking at him and saying, ‘Hey, going after my QB like that isn’t cool.’ I understand emotions get high. It’s a physical game. This is guys’ livelihood, so I don’t blame any of that stuff.”

Hopefully Ferguson and Wilson can put this in the past and move on from it. With the regular season opener against the Cleveland Browns just around the corner, the Cowboys need their players to be on the same side.