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Lions' Brian Branch throws punch at Chiefs' JuJu Smith-Schuster in postgame skirmish
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- Lions' Brian Branch throws punch at Chiefs' JuJu Smith-Schuster in postgame skirmish
The Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions got into a brawl in the waning seconds of their "Sunday Night Football" clash in Week 6 .
The fight started after Lions safety Brian Branch threw an open-handed punch at the face of Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster after the Chiefs took a knee to seal a 30-17 victory .
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Branch walked straight up to Smith-Schuster following Patrick Mahomes ' final kneel-down, ignoring an offered handshake from the quarterback to go up to the veteran receiver.
Like Mahomes, Smith-Schuster offered his hand for Branch to shake, as the NBC broadcast showed. But Branch instead decided to throw the punch before being restrained and led away by Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco .
As that was happening, an irate Smith-Schuster began chasing down the 23-year-old safety and landed an open hand to his facemask as well. The two continued to jostle through Pacheco before the trio all ended up on the ground.
Shortly thereafter, the two teams all surrounded the fighters, creating a scrum. Eventually, order was restored, but not before another member of the Lions – whose number could not be identified – was thrown to the ground after landing a blow to Pacheco's face.
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Branch told USA TODAY Sports' Jarrett Bell after the game that he took issue with Smith-Schuster's physical play, which he contended included an illegal but uncalled block in the back.
"I did a little childish thing," Branch said. "But I'm tired of people doing stuff in between the plays and the ref don't catch it, trying to bully me out there.
"But I should've never did it. It was childish."
Smith-Schuster wasn't satisfied with that explanation.
"I made a good block," Smith-Schuster told Bell. "He obviously responded after the game. At the end of the day, it's about the team win."
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The officials did not intervene in the brawl. They merely surrounded the teams briefly before heading to the locker room with the game finished, per the NBC broadcast.
Patrick Mahomes mum on details of brawl in immediate aftermath
Mahomes, who was among those in the center of the brawl given his proximity to the punch, was among the first asked about it following the game.
Sideline reporter Melissa Stark asked him what had happened during a postgame interview on the NBC broadcast.
"I mean, we play the game in between the whistles," Mahomes said. "They can do all the extracurricular stuff they wanna do, but we play the game in between the whistles. We thought we played a great game today, and we'll keep this momentum moving forward."
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Dan Campbell calls Brian Branch 's punch 'inexcusable'
At the beginning of his postgame news conference, Lions coach Dan Campbell immediately addressed and condemned Branch for his role in the fight at the end of regulation.
"I love Brian Branch, but what he did was inexcusable," Campbell told reporters. "It's not gonna be accepted here. It's not what we do. It's not what we're about."
"I apologize to Coach Reid and the Chiefs and Smith-Schuster," he added. "That's not OK. That's not what we do here. It's not gonna be OK. [Branch] knows it. Our team knows it. That's not what we do."
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Campbell did not elaborate on whether Branch would face any internal punishment or whether he expected the NFL to discipline him.
Andy Reid: JuJu Smith-Schuster hurt nose in fight
Reid explained during his postgame news conference he didn't know much more about the brawl than anyone else who had seen it.
"I mean, you guys saw it," Reid said. "The guy came up and hit JuJu for what looked like no reason. We were taking a knee. That's tough."
However, Reid did offer that Smith-Schuster had gotten banged up during the skirmish.
"[Branch] put pretty good damage on JuJu's nose," Reid said.
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Reid did not provide further updates about Smith-Schuster's condition and whether the injury would be cause for any concern.
Contributing: Jarrett Bell
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chiefs-Lions fight: JuJu Smith-Schuster hit by Brian Branch postgame
