The NFL fined the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints $500,000 each after repeated fights disrupted their joint practice at the Cowboys’ training base in Oxnard, California. The league announced the penalties two days after the August 18 workout, having requested video of the incidents.

Players exchanged punches during several confrontations in hot and humid conditions. Saints tight end Brock Rechsteiner body-slammed Cowboys safety Jalen Thompson, while Saints center Erik McCoy threw a Dallas helmet into the air during another clash. McCoy and Cowboys linebacker Donovan Ezeiruaku also traded punches. Ezeiruaku was removed from the session, his second practice ejection of training camp.

The two head coaches, New Orleans’ Kellen Moore and Dallas’ Brian Schottenheimer, came close to ending the workout early because of the repeated post-whistle trouble. Before the league announced its decision, both coaches acknowledged that conduct outside ordinary football activity had marred the practice.

The NFL linked the fines to an established emphasis on sportsmanship at joint sessions. It said clubs had been reminded before training camp that they were responsible for preventing unsportsmanlike behaviour carrying a risk of injury. The size of the club-level penalties underscored that the league was treating conduct at practices as a significant disciplinary matter rather than leaving it entirely to the teams.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Dallas would appeal what he described as a severe fine, although he also said he understood the league’s response. The Cowboys separately planned financial penalties for their own players who participated. Jones identified Ezeiruaku as one player expected to face internal discipline and said consequences were necessary for improper behaviour.

New Orleans subsequently held another joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams at their Woodland Hills complex without fights or disciplinary problems. That workout ended ahead of schedule after an extensive week of work and several apparently minor injuries, rather than because of misconduct. Moore said he had discussed professionalism with the Saints beforehand. The team also had completed a joint session with the Jacksonville Jaguars the previous week without trouble.

The fines applied equally to the two clubs and did not, at that stage, include league penalties for named individuals. Dallas’ planned appeal concerns the team sanction, while its proposed player fines form a separate internal response. The episode left both organizations balancing the training value of joint work against the league’s stated requirement that clubs control potentially dangerous confrontations.

The practice took place at the Dallas training camp two days before the fines were announced. Jones said the scale of the sanction drew attention to league expectations, including restrictions on removing, swinging or striking with helmets. Neither club had a disciplinary problem in its other joint practice cited in the account.