Browns OL James Hudson III punches Ogbo Okoronkwo in practice brawl
Things got chippy up front on Sunday as the Cleveland Browns wrapped up their training camp practice at The Greenbrier Resort. Near the end of the practice, a fight broke out between offensive tackle James Hudson III and defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo as punches were thrown.
The scuffle occurred during an 11-on-11 series after Okoronkwo beat Hudson off the edge to put pressure on quarterback Deshaun Watson. Hudson shoved Okoronkwo in the back, causing the defensive end to pop back up and slap his teammates’ helmet before running back.
Hudson chased after him, however, eventually catching up and landing a punch on his helmet. Okoronkwo returned the favor as several Browns players stepped in to separate the two. You can view the fight, captured by Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, below.
Okoronkwo signed with the Browns this season after spending 2022 with the Houston Texans. He is coming off of the best statistical season of his career in which he finished with 44 tackles (nine for loss), five sacks and a forced fumble. Hudson, a fourth-round pick in 2021, is set to enter Year 3 in Cleveland.
That was just the first fight that occurred Sunday, as a second skirmish occurred just four plays later. This one was between offensive tackle Tyrone Wheatley and defensive end Alex Wright. Unfortunately, it ended with Wheatley limping off the field with an apparent injury.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski called his team together after the second fight and made them run sprints.
“I’ll say this, fighting skirmishes, jawing happens in every training camp and at every level of football,” Stefanski told Cleveland.com after practice. “They’re tired, they’re hot, they’ve been going against each other. So I’m not surprised at that at all. They talked about it, it’s over. We don’t throw punches. So I’ll review that stuff. And there’s obviously penalties.
“If you’re throwing punches in games, you get thrown out of the game. So why practice something that would get you thrown out of a game? So we’ll address that, obviously. But I don’t think anybody’s ever been around a bunch of football players in the heat that don’t get a little agitated, if you will.”
The Browns are coming off of a 7-10 season and will hope to put the fights behind them as they aim to get back to the postseason. Sunday’s practice was the last of the summer at The Greenbrier Resort as Cleveland will report back to CrossCountry Mortgage Campus in Berea for the final eight practices of training camp.