Fan injured as fights mar another Panthers, Pats practice

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — A day after a pair of fights resulted in five players being kicked out of the first joint practice between the Panthers and Patriots, two more incidents — including one in which a female fan was struck after a scrum spilled into the spectator area — nearly brought an end to Wednesday’s practice session.

“Number one, my thoughts are with the woman that was hurt over there. I’m hoping that she’s OK,” Panthers coach Matt Rhule said after practice. “I don’t have any update on her, but I’m hoping she’s OK.”

The first dust-up occurred during a live kickoff return drill after Panthers safety Kenny Robinson — one of the players ejected in Tuesday’s tussles — laid a big hit on Patriots receiver Kristian Wilkerson and stood over him, taunting him.

Several of Wilkerson’s teammates took issue with it and it led to some brief pushing and shoving.

During an 11-on-11 period, Carolina running back Christian McCaffrey was hit hard near the sideline, got to his feet and spiked the ball in direction of a Patriots player. It led to another scrum that spilled into the front row of a spectator area, striking at least one female fan. It also resulted in ejections for New England defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr. and Carolina running back Chuba Hubbard.

“It gets a little chippy out here sometimes. That’s the way it goes,” McCaffrey said. “It is what it is. A little scrum. It happens. Football’s football. “You go to these joint practices — it’s part of the game.”

The teams meet in an exhibition game on Friday night.

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