Jets player takes cheap shot at Terrace Marshall Jr. during scuffle at joint practice

The Carolina Panthers need to prove themselves, as Dave Canales mustered just three points in his preseason debut. The New York Jets, viewed by many as a possible Super Bowl contender, are in town for a few practices before the two teams are set to square off.

The Panthers have largely avoided the preseason fisticuffs that have infected many of the other joint practices around the league. That all changed against the Jets, who got so chippy right before their Saturday evening game that a noteworthy set of scrums broke out.

Panthers players like Chuba Hubbard (who suffered a knee injury in this practice) and Austin Corbett were caught up in the middle of this melee, with Jets defensive backs Tony Adams and Chuck Clark also mixing it up. The lowlight of the scuffle came when Jets cornerback DJ Reed threw a football at Panthers wide receiver Terrance Marshall Jr.

Just when it looked like everything was starting to calm down, here comes Reed to pour some extra gasoline on the fire. Like all incidents of this manner, the Panthers can get back at the Jets if they kick their butt on the field on Saturday night.

Canales has already spoken out about the dust-up, calling the whole thing "dumb football" and stressing that players should pump others up rather than trying to get into a physical altercation. It's hard to disagree, as no one comes out of this looking better.

NY Jets CB DJ Reed throws ball at Panthers WR Terrace Marshall Jr.

Both these teams are desperate to get things turned around as soon as possible as the 2024 season inches closer. Carolina was the worst team in the NFL, while New York never managed to truly get going after Aaron Rodgers was lost for the season after just four snaps.

While both sides were assuredly doing some chatting back and forth, Reed who will turn 28 years old soon and will enter his seventh NFL season, throwing a ball at a third-year player like Marshall could come off as punching down and immature.

Marshall, who has been sliding down the depth chart in the offseason after the acquisitions of Diontae Johnson and Xavier Legette, now has even more motivation to bust up the Jets in the preseason. If the Jets play some of their defensive starters and Reed gets some reps, things could get very interesting.