'Chippy' Cowboys Handed $500,000 Fine After Joint Practice with Saints

The Dallas Cowboys will host the New Orleans Saints in Arlington on Aug. 28 for their third and final preseason game.

It comes after Dallas plays at the Arizona Cardinals on Aug. 22, but this week the joint practice between the Cowboys and Saints drew eyeballs ... and forced each team to fork over an expensive payment to the NFL.

The Cowboys and Saints were each fined $500,000 on Thursday for "the actions that took place at the joint practice between the teams earlier this week," in Oxnard, Calif.

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"Not the way we like to do business," Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said about the "chippy" practice.

"Got to be better, but I've got to look at the film. We're certainly not going to take [expletive] from anybody, but again, it was chippy on both sides. Like I've said, I want our guys to play on the edge without going over the edge. One guy sounds like he might've thrown a punch, and that's why he left practice early."

Second-year defensive lineman Donovon Ezeiruaku was ejected for throwing a punch. This wasn't the first time "Eze" was kicked out of a practice this training camp.

"We'll have a long conversation," Schottenheimer said when asked about Ezeiruaku, who currently sits on the depth chart as a starting outside linebacker. "Donovan is a very bright young man. He understands that he can't hurt the football team.

"Unfortunately for him, there's two officiating crews that know he lost his composure. But it's part of a growth mindset for him, we've got to get him better, and we've got the right type of leaders on this football team, myself included- Christian Parker, Quinnen Williams, guys like that- that will help him do that."

Later on, the practice was called off altogether after a conversation between Schottenheimer and former Cowboys quarterback and offensive coordinator, now Saints head coach Kellen Moore.

"Kellen and I talked about a couple different things," Schottenheimer said. "We decided once it settled down, we kind of had agreed that if a couple other things happened we would cancel it. But they worked through it, they settled into it, but again, there's a discipline element to playing this football game. And unfortunately, we didn't handle that very well today. But again, I don't think we were the only culprits."

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Amidst the disappointment, Schottenheimer poured wisdom into his team about channeling energy on the field.

"It was more about mindset, mentality, ability to refocus when bad stuff happens," Schottenheimer said about his post-practice remarks. "Again, we're going to play on the edge. And we're not going to take, I'll say the word again, [expletive] from anybody. ... It was a sloppy practice all in all, and it's got to be better."

There were several skirmishes throughout the workout, but members of the Dallas squad held their heads high in the aftermath.

Who won?

"Of course we did. Come on now," safety Jalen Thompson said.

Sure ... but mark down the Cowboys' financials as a loser after a $500,000 blow to the wallet.