NFL training camp roundup: Packers, Bengals brawl; Amon-Ra St. Brown shows off, more

It’s that time again!

NFL training camps are underway across the league as preparation for the 2023-24 season begins in earnest. 

There have already been plenty of fun high jinks, a few spats and some renewed rivalries as teams get ready to vie for the season.

Here are some of the highlights from the first week of training camps.

Packers, Bengals brawl

We have our first fight of 2023 NFL Training Camp season.

Punches were thrown and players tossed to the ground during scuffles that interrupted a joint practice Wednesday between the Packers and Bengals ahead of their preseason opener.

Packers offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins was at the center of a couple of fights that briefly delayed the practice. Jenkins connected with a punch to the head of Bengals defensive tackle D.J. Reader and was walked off the field by a coach.

The fracas didn’t escalate to the level of the helmet-swinging melee between the Bengals and Los Angeles Rams during a joint practice in Cincinnati last year, just months after the Bengals lost to the Rams in Super Bowl 56. That one ended the session immediately.

“Emotions get high,” Green Bay left tackle David Bakhtiari said. “I know (Jenkins will) never do it in the game. He’s never done that in the game. So, the practice, I mean, it’s a little bit different. You know you shouldn’t, but you also know there’s no consequences.”

The Bengals and Packers play Friday night at Paycor Stadium.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Amon-Ra St. Brown heating up

The Lions wideout was spotted running clean routes at camp this. 

The 23-year-old led the team with 1,161 receiving yards last season and looks poised to do the same again in 2023.

[Related: Lions training camp preview: All eyes on Jahmyr Gibbs; Are defensive issues fixed?]

Quentin Johnston goes up

The Chargers rookie went straight to work proving why he was the 21st overall pick in this year’s draft. Exhibit A:

Gabriel Davis has his eyes on the prize

Davis, who is entering his four year in the league, reeled in this one-handed snag from QB Josh Allen with ease — perhaps giving a glimpse at what’s to be expected from him this season.

Patrick Mahomes’ next move — behind his back?!

The Kansas City Chiefs superstar quarterback is known for his mind-boggling variety of arm slots and ability to complete passes few other quarterbacks might even attempt. But if this unbelievable training camp throw to Skyy Moore is any indication, the defending NFL MVP and Super Bowl champion may outdo himself this year.

Cowboys rookie Deuce Vaughn goes viral

Former Kansas State star Deuce Vaughn has been turning heads at camp while practicing drills with his teammates.

Vaughn, who stands at 5-foot-5, was the shortest player measured at the NFL Scouting Combine since that information began tracking in 2003, per CBS Sports. As videos from Cowboys camp began to surface online, football fans couldn’t help but notice that the rest of the team seemingly towered over the 21-year-old sixth-round draft pick.

Damar Hamlin snags INT in his second day in pads 

The Buffalo Bills safety continues his incredible comeback from the cardiac arrest he suffered in January. In just his second day practicing in pads since that incident — and with his family in attendance — Hamlin notched an interception.

Steelers‘ George Pickens and Joey Porter Jr. go at it

Pittsburgh fans loved the competitive fire between the team’s second-year wide receiver out of Georgia and first-year cornerback out of Penn State.

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson shows what it’s all about

Check out this young Ravens fan’s reaction to high-fiving the former MVP:

Giants‘ Saquon Barkley has got love on the brain

The star running back, fresh off signing a one-year contract extension worth up to $11 million in incentives, saw a Giants fan with a sign reading “Saquon, my ex will take me back if you sign this” and, well, Barkley did what he could.

Props to Barkley for helping out this hopeless romantic during what has been a challenging summer financially for him and other top NFL stars at his position.

Travis Kelce shows remorse after punch caught on tape

Kansas City’s star tight end went momentarily viral Saturday morning when video emerged of him taking a swing at Chiefs linebacker Jack Cochrane after catching a touchdown pass from Mahomes in red zone drills.

He later expressed remorse for his actions in a post on social media.

Dolphins‘ Tyreek Hill is ready for another round with Eli Apple

The Dolphins have found their Jalen Ramsey replacement after he went down with a partially torn meniscus that required surgery and will keep him out for the first several weeks of the season. It’s none other than Apple, the former Saints, Giants and Bengals cornerback

Apple has long antagonized star Dolphins wide receiver Hill on social media, dating back to some trash talk from Apple when the Bengals beat Hill’s Chiefs in the 2021 AFC Championship Game — only for Hill and many other NFL wide receivers to mock Apple on social media after he gave up the Super Bowl-winning touchdown to the Rams‘ Cooper Kupp.

That feud continued into the 2022 season, when Apple actually did a solid job against Hill as the Bengals beat the Dolphins in Week 4. But now Hill gets his shot at revenge and appears to be looking forward to it.

Ramsey also weighed in.

Frank Clark has a spicy Chiefs–Broncos rivalry take

Speaking of the defending Super Bowl champs, it sounds like they’re not taking Russell Wilson‘s Broncos very seriously, according to former Chief and current Bronco Frank Clark.

Panthers‘ Bryce Young gets left hanging

Most Panthers fans seem thrilled with the team’s No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. 

But one young fan completely missed when the former Heisman Trophy winner tried to give him a fist bump after posing for a picture, so Young had to complete the dap-up himself.

Stay tuned for more fun training camp moments!

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