FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Joe Hawley, or "Brawley" as some would call him, knows a little something about fights erupting at practice.

Last year, during joint training camp sessions with Tennessee, the Atlanta Falcons' center was ejected by officials after a skirmish with Titans safety Michael Griffin. You had to wonder if both teams were playing to the cameras, with HBO's "Hard Knocks" recording every move.

"I didn't do anything for the cameras," Hawley said. "Anything I was involved in was just frustration. Last year, the whole thing during training camp was preaching toughness. I think that kinda got to the team."

Falcons coach Dan Quinn says players should show poise when tempers flare on the field. John Bazemore/AP Photo

Hawley also had heated exchanges with rookie teammates Ra'Shede Hageman and Jacques Smith during last year's camp. Not to mention the scuffle between Kroy Biermann and Jake Matthews that served as the "Hard Knocks" trailer. But don't expect an encore from Hawley and the Falcons this season, even despite the wave of internal hostility ongoing around the league.

As ESPN's Rich Cimini reported Tuesday, New York Jets starting quarterback Geno Smith will miss six to 10 weeks after being sucker-punched in the locker room by linebacker Ikemefuna Enemkpali, who was immediately released. Carolina Panthers star quarterback Cam Newton got into it with teammate Josh Norman during Monday's practice.

The Falcons haven't had any major fights at this year's camp and probably won't -- not with Dan Quinn as head coach.

"He's always preaching every day how we need to come together as a team and love your teammates," Hawley said of Quinn. "I think that's really transferred over to the field. If we do get into scuffles, right after, we need to be all cool. It's not really intense like that. Building a good team, that's what it's all about."

Outside linebacker O'Brien Schofield knows first-hand how Quinn expects players to conduct themselves. Schofield spent the previous two years in Seattle, where Quinn was the defensive coordinator.

"Coach Quinn was never big on fighting," Schofield said, "and it's mainly because he truly believes in, 'We're all brothers. We're all in this thing together.' Especially with the rules, you can't go into a game and fight somebody and it be OK. Even if you're trying to make peace with a fight, you could be subjected to a fine.

"So coach Quinn's whole thing is don't practice it, and don't close-hand punch somebody because you're going to get ejected. If you do it in practice, you get kicked out of the drill. You can understand the concept of what he's doing because when you're losing reps, you're losing the opportunity to get better."

That's not to say all Seahawks practices were tame, particularly with guys such as outspoken cornerback Richard Sherman on the roster.

"I've seen a lot," Schofield said. "Who fought in Seattle? Whoever was talking trash. We had a bunch of competitors. And Pete [Carroll] was different. Pete was kind of OK with it, a little bit. But coach Quinn, even over there, he didn't want that.

"Coach Quinn's philosophy is you practice like you're going to play. And he's not going to tolerate fights in practice because if someone goes and does it in a game, it's going to affect the whole team. Now, we're going to lose a player who we were counting on. For me, I totally agree that we should be protecting each other any way in practice. [Quinn] always says, 'If you see a guy falling down, don't finish him. No need to finish your teammate. We need that guy. Hold him up. Protect the team.' And that's part of the team rules."

Quinn was asked to share his thoughts on training camp fights.

"I think the biggest thing is we want to keep our poise," he said. "Part of keeping poise is there are going to be times when you're going to be furious at a guy, but part of having that poise is knowing 'I've got another play to go.' I think it's kind of going the other way, in terms of practice. ...Do the tempers get out of control and we get sideways sometimes when we're competing so hard? Yeah. But it's really coming back to that poise."

Such poise has been evident through the Falcons' first 10 practices of camp.

"You've got to appreciate that because at some point, some people don't understand that when a fight happens and you don't leave it on the field, sometimes it can go into the locker room, and that's not what you want," Schofield said. "You don't want it to affect team chemistry.

"Yeah, things will happen in the heat of the moment. It's competitive nature. You might push a little after the play, and that's fine. But as far as a close-hand fist and trying to wrestle guys to the ground, coach Quinn's not going to have it."