by: Chandler Vessels • 31 minutes ago • ChandlerVessels
Atlanta Falcons rookie edge rusher James Pearce Jr. was at the center of a pair of dust-ups at training on Sunday. Although defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich told ESPN he liked to see the fire from the first-year player, he also admitted it went “a little too far.”
One one series, Pearce got into it with left guard Matthew Bergeron , whose helmet came off. Multiple players from both sides got involved and edger rusher Leonard Floyd had to come to to Pearce’s defense.
Just one play after that, Pearce again found himself fighting with another teammate, this time right tackles Kaleb McGary , who was screaming at Pearce with his helmet off. Floyd again stepped in as more pushing and shoving ensued.
“We’re trying to develop a culture, a style of play for sure, and part of that is the violence with which we play and aggression, the urgency and all that,” Ulbrich said. “Today, at times, it went a little too far and we’ve got to learn how to manage that.
“You’re going to get agitated and, especially when you’re playing really good defense, the offense is going to get very agitated, so you’ve got to anticipate punches being thrown, things being said, people getting pushed. In those moments, you got to thrive and not retaliate and so it’s a good lesson to be learned today.”