Just three days before the Philadelphia Eagles go into battle against their division-rival Washington Redskins in Sunday's season opener, two members of the team were in a fight of their own--with each other.
Wide receiver Riley Cooper, who made headlines over a month ago and took a leave of absence from the team for counseling following using a racial slur at a country music concert and being caught on video, got into a scrum with teammate and cornerback Cary Williams at Eagles practice Thursday.
A video of the scrum can be seen below:
A video of Cooper using the racial slur at the concert can be seen below:
While scraps are very common between teammates on the practice field, this one was notable as Williams was vocally critical of Cooper for using the n-word in the video he was caught in. According to Philly.com, the two players were involved in a shoving match during practice when Williams and Cooper were battling. A pass was intended for Cooper and Williams was holding onto his back and eventually brought him to the ground as the pass landed incomplete during a one-on-one drill.
The two eventually got up and started pushing each other as Cooper came at Williams, causing Williams to hurl a few punches and grab Cooper's facemask before teammates came in to break it up.
Williams, was very heated, and then continued to bark at Cooper and when quarterback Michael Vick got involved to break it up, Williams gave him an earful as well.
Cooper later tried to explain the altercation to Philly.com, which reported that Williams said "I'm not a n- you [mess] with," during the scrum.
"Just one-on-ones," Cooper told Philly.com of the incident, somewhat brushing it off. "Both being super competitive, going for the ball, and we were tangled."
Williams told USA Today Sports when the video of the racial slur first came out that it would take time for his trust in Cooper to return as the slur "put a damper on what type of person he is."
"This is hard to talk about, man. It's tough, me being an African American and to say that hurts me," Williams told USA Today. "It's a derogatory word. I don't know him. I did see the tape. It's disheartening for a guy to say something like that."
Williams continued: "You're angry. There are several other words he could have said. But he used something that was over the top."
The Eagles could use some unity as the team tries to turn it around after finishing fourth place in the NFC East last year with a 4-12 record last year.
It appears as though both were angry Thursday, and the trust may be irreplaceably broken.
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