Several Philadelphia Eagles players had to break up wide receiver Riley Cooper and cornerback Cary Williams after they got into a fight at practice Thursday.
A video of the incident shows the two players fighting after a pass was thrown to Cooper. After the two players were broken up, Cooper walked away but Williams continued to pursue him.
It eventually took Eagles quarterback Michael Vick and wide receiver DeSean Jackson confronting Williams before the cornerback backed away.
Urgent: Should U.S. Strike Syria? Vote Here
In football, a fight between teammates at practice is not totally uncommon, but the tussle between Cooper, who used a racial slur at a Kenny Chesney concert earlier this summer that was caught on tape, and Williams, who is black, seemed to catch the public's attention.
An Eagles player near the incident reportedly
told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Williams used a racial slur during the scuffle.
"I'm not a [N-word] you [mess] with," Williams allegedly told Cooper.
Cooper downplayed the fight to reporters after practice.
"Both being super competitive, going for the ball," Cooper said. "We had a tangle-up at the ball, we both went to the ground. There was a lot of contact at the top of the route. It was nothing."
Vick, though, called the fight "a distraction."
"Our maturity level has to be on a whole different plane," Vick told reporters. "Regardless of who the catalyst was for the whole fight, that doesn't matter. We have to be men. We're not guys who are out on the street, fighting one another. We're teammates. It's game week. We don't have time for that. I don't."
Williams, who did not address the media about the fight, was in another altercation this preseason. He brawled with New England Patriots rookie wide receiver Aaron Dobson when the two teams practiced together last month.
Urgent: Should Obamacare be Repealed? Vote Here Now
Related stories:
Michael Vick Forgives Eagles Teammate Riley Cooper After Racial Slur
Why America Can't Solve Its Race Issues
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.