Dallas Cowboys training camp got physical on Tuesday, and head coach Brian Schottenheimer wasted no time enforcing the line he’d drawn well before camp even started. Defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku was kicked out of practice after throwing a punch at right tackle Terence Steele during the team’s second padded session in Oxnard, California, following a brief scuffle between the two.

“There are going to be those events that happen during a game that, if you throw a punch, you’re getting kicked out of the game,” Schottenheimer said last year, during his first training camp in charge, via DallasCowboys.com.

Tuesday’s ejection showed he meant it just as much in practice. Per Schottenheimer’s own standard relayed at the scene, scuffling during camp reps is one thing, but throwing a punch goes too far.

This isn’t the first time Ezeiruaku has crossed that line in a heated moment. During his rookie season, he was ejected from an actual game against the Giants for pulling the helmet off offensive lineman Greg Van Roten in a third-quarter skirmish that also drew a flag on teammate Quinnen Williams.

Beat reporter Clarence Hill Jr. passed along several other updates from the session. Offensive lineman Tyler Guyton missed first-team reps with a sore elbow. Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown sat out team drills entirely with sore legs. Safety Alijah Clark left practice with an ankle injury, not believed to be serious, and defensive tackle Jonathan Bullard was also held out with sore hamstrings.

Ezeiruaku’s ejection stands out given where he is in his career right now. The second-round pick from the 2025 draft, who signed a four-year, $10.1 million rookie deal with roughly 84.5% guaranteed, spent much of the offseason rehabbing hip labrum surgery and had only just been fully cleared before camp began. Schottenheimer had actually praised his return days earlier, saying after Day 1 that Ezeiruaku looked like his old self, logging three would-be sacks in that opening practice.

He finished 2025 with 40 total tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble across all 17 games, production that made him one of the top rookie edge rushers in the league. He’s been building on a final college season at Boston College that included 80 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, and 16.5 sacks, the second-most in the nation, and earned him the Ted Hendricks Award as the country’s top defensive end. He’s also been open about the intensity he and his teammates bring to camp reps, even before Tuesday’s incident.

“We’re competitors, that’s all it is. I’m a hot guy, he gets hot too. We compete, we go back and forth, that’s what’s going to make us great,” Ezeiruaku said, describing the daily battles he and other Cowboys have been having in camp.

Steele, the veteran right tackle on the other end of Tuesday’s altercation, has been a frequent target for Dallas’ pass rushers throughout camp, with Rashan Gary also giving the offensive line fits in one-on-one reps all week. That’s not what Dallas needs heading into a camp where the offensive line already has questions to answer.

That tension at one position is only part of the bigger picture as camp rolls on, though, and the roster is shaping up in other spots too.

Where things stand for Dallas as training camp rolls on

Tuesday was Dallas’ fifth practice and second padded session of camp. Otherwise, the Cowboys have had a clean start to the summer. On July 28, the team confirmed no player would begin camp on the PUP or NFI list, notable given that both Ezeiruaku and cornerback DaRon Bland came in fresh off offseason surgeries, per the Cowboys’ official site.

Safety P.J. Locke had missed three straight sessions with a hyperextended knee but returned to the field Tuesday, good news for a secondary that needs all the depth it can get.

On offense, running backs Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah have both drawn early praise.

“Jaydon Blue has been having a very strong start to Cowboys training camp, and Phil Mafah is really standing out today in the second padded practice,” Patrik Walker of DallasCowboys.com wrote.

Dallas is going to need its backfield to carry more weight this season, and both are making an early case.

As for Ezeiruaku, Tuesday’s ejection won’t change his standing on this roster long term, but it sent a message that Schottenheimer is willing to hold the line even with players he’s publicly praised. He’ll get his next chance to show where things stand when the Cowboys open the preseason at Seattle on August 15.