'Fight Club': Cowboys' Brian Schottenheimer Offers Brutally Honest Take On 'Playing Referee' vs. Saints

Joint practices in the NFL are supposed to be teachable moments, where teams can get better on both sides of the ball, but for the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints, in Oxnard, it resembled a WWE title fight.

With multiple fights that saw Donovan Ezeiruaku booted out of practice for throwing a punch - the second time he has done so this offseason - while several players were thrown to the ground.

There were fiery back-and-forths ... helmet-throwing and shadow-boxing and all sorts of foolishness.

It was a shambles, folks.

Yes, the offense and defense got in some good work (maybe), but no one is talking about that; they are talking about the indiscipline that has plagued this Cowboys team for years.

Now, they weren't the only ones in this; the Saints have to take the blame here too, as running back Jashaun Corbin was tackled and then, when out of bounds, was thrown to the ground by a Saints defender, which saw an all-in skirmish.

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Both teams are at fault here in what head coach Brian Schottenheimer called a "chippy" practice in Oxnard.

And when asked about what he saw on the field from his team, football-wise, the head coach started out in a light-hearted mood (joking about the movie "Fight Club'') but got very serious very quickly.

"I got to go look at the film because I was playing referee the whole time,” Schottenheimer said. “The one thing I have learned is I don't get in the fights, I stay back.

"But our football team needs this work, and overall I was disappointed in the work because I didn't think we got enough good work. I thought there were too many bodies on the ground, and it just felt sloppy to me. So, is what it is.”

And that is the thing here. 

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These practices are supposed to be where iron sharpens iron; both sides of the ball get good work in to better themselves. Not to get into fights.

Schottenheimer stated that they do happen, and it isn't the end of the world, but it is clear he's disappointed with how his team went up to the line and then proceeded to cross it.

Indeed, here's a lingering worry: Schotty insists his team should not get in fights but also spoke proudly of how they don't "take any (expletive).''

Well ... which is it? What does the coach's precious "culture'' instruct them to do in the middle of a melee?

A "long conversation" will be held with Eze, according to Schotty. And the same probably goes for 90 other guys.

But the Cowboys' discipline, while at times it's done to protect their teammates, has to be far better.

Fighting in practice is one thing, but doing it in a game when flags fly? You can seriously hinder the team's chance of winning.

As for Schottenheimer, we can now add another job title to his Cowboys resume.

"Practice referee.''