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Panthers-Bills joint practice friendly, familiar

The two teams joined up for drills in Spartanburg on Tuesday.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Normally when teams get together for joint practices in training camp, fists tend to fly.

But for the Panthers and Bills on Tuesday, it was a friendly and familiar affair.

Buffalo features a handful of former Panthers (Captain Munnerlyn, Kurt Coleman, Dean Marlowe and Star Lotulelei). The Bills head coach is Sean McDermott, who spent 2011-16 running the Panthers' defense.

"It was a lot (talk)," said Munnerlyn, a defensive back who was known for his back-and-forth trash talk with Cam Newton during his two stints as a Panther. "Me and Cam had some words here and there but it was all fun."

On the other side, Panthers tight end Chris Manhertz and receiver Chris Hogan spent the early parts of their careers with the Bills.

"Everything comes back full circle," said Manhertz. "The Buffalo Bills was the first organization to give me a chance and I'm forever grateful for that."

Despite one short scrap between a few Panthers offensive linemen and a Bills defender, there was no fighting -- something Carolina coach Ron Rivera and McDermott said they would not tolerate.

"You get a little over-hyped and I thought that was part of our problem early," Rivera said. "Once our guys settled in and got a little bit of a routine you felt a lot better about it."

The teams will hold one more joint practice on Wednesday morning, and play an exhibition game Friday evening in Charlotte.

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