Atlanta Falcons: Takkarist McKinley, Jake Matthews get into shoving match at camp

Atlanta Falcons rookie defensive end Takkarist McKinley and veteran left tackle Jake Matthews got a little heated during one-on-one drills Friday

With reports coming out that rookie defensive end Takkarist McKinley has been lighting it up at training camp, it could mean that left tackle Jake Matthews is getting fed up with him. On Friday, that frustration started to manifest itself as Matthews and McKinley had to be separated following a brief shoving match during one-on-one drills according to Justin Felder of Fox 5.

As far as training camp “fights” go, this one was incredibly mild, and is of course no need to sound any type of alarm in terms of team cohesion. Shoving matches are extremely common during the hot summer months when players are not only battling the elements, but the same person day-after-day, play-after-play.

In this instance Matthews may not appreciate the rookie holding his own. As for McKinley, dude just goes 100 miles per hour non-stop. We all saw that during his emotional speech following his selection in the 2017 NFL Draft and anyone who follows him on social media knows his engine never gets put into park.

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While many coaches will say the emotions at camp are a good thing, the real news here is how strong McKinley looks after having shoulder surgery roughly six months ago. Many believed he could miss most of his rookie season, but instead the UCLA product has been a fixture in camp from the start and could very well produce from Week 1 on.