Aaron Donald swings Bengals player's helmet in brawl as Rams' joint practice ends early

The Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams will play Saturday night in the final preseason game before Week 1, but the two teams' joint practice work at Paycor Stadium was called off earlier than planned after a heated confrontation.

Helmets and fists flew in a series of fights Thursday during the second joint practice between the Super Bowl 56 opponents. The Bengals left the practice field after a brawl broke out, which was the third incident of the day. Each incident involved Bengals offensive tackle La'el Collins and Rams defenders.

Rams All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald at one point grabbed a Bengals player's helmet and swung it multiple times before being pushed to the ground.

"It just got a little scuffle-y, and so we just called it," Bengals coach Zac Taylor said of the decision to end practice with only a few reps remaining. "We were in the last period, and we got two really good days of work in."

The NFL leaves oversight of joint practices to teams, meaning Donald and any other players involved are not likely to be subject to any league discipline. 

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Rams coach Sean McVay said he was not certain what sparked the multiple fights. 

"I think in some instances teams defending each other," McVay said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Fortunately, my understanding is nobody got hurt, and we'll move on from it. Not going to make a bigger deal than what it is. Not going to look at pointing fingers."

Saturday night's preseason finale for both teams is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on NFL Network.