Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette didn’t figure to be in for a long night in his team’s first preseason game on Friday night.

Turns out it was much shorter than anticipated.

The Panthers’ second-year player was ejected midway through the first quarter of his team’s opener with the Cleveland Browns in Charlotte, N.C., after trading punches with Browns safety Rayshawn Jenkins following a play. Jenkins was also ejected following their altercation.

Video showed Legette, 24, throw multiple punches at the head of Jenkins — both players were wearing helmets at the time. Jenkins appeared to throw one punch in retaliation before Legette fell to his knees and wrapped Jenkins’ legs.

Jenkins tore Legette’s helmet off as Legette went to the ground; Jenkins never went down.

The altercation happened with seven minutes to go in the first quarter following a run for no gain by Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard.

Later, Legette posted a message on X to Panthers fans:

“Panthers nation I apologize It (won’t) happen again!!!! I appreciate you all.”

Selected out of South Carolina with final pick in the first round in 2024, Legette played in 16 games with 13 starts as a rookie, grabbing 49 balls for 497 yards and four touchdowns.

Jenkins, 31, signed with the Browns as a free agent in May. He played last season for the Seattle Seahawks after spending the previous three with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He spent the first four seasons of his career with the Los Angeles Chargers, who selected Jenkins in the fourth round in 2017.

In 122 career games (89 starts), Jenkins has 10 interceptions and 517 tackles. He did not record an interception with the Seahawks last season but did return a fumble 102 yards for a touchdown and tallied two sacks — the first multi-sack season of his career.

–Field Level Media