Former Tennessee Vols LB Jerod Mayo may have just solved an NFL problem that no other coach has been able to solve

Former Tennessee Vols linebacker Jerod Mayo, who took over as the head coach of the New England Patriots earlier this offseason, may have solved a problem in the NFL that no other coach has been able to solve.

Joint practices are underway during NFL training camps and, as is always the case, there have already been a few fights.

Earlier this month, the New York Giants and the Detroit Lions got into several scuffles during joint practices in New Jersey.

One of the scuffles involved Giants rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers.

The Giants and the Lions were each fined $200,000 as a result of the fights.

This week, the Patriots are set to host joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles. And Mayo has the perfect way to keep his players from fighting.

Mayo told reporters that if a starter gets into a fight, they'll have to play the entire preseason game against the Eagles on Thursday night. If a non-starter gets in a fight, they won't get any reps at all during the preseason game against Philly.

Absolutely brilliant from Mayo. Not many starters want to play an entire preseason game. And non-starters badly need the reps during preseason games as they continue to battle for their spot on the depth chart.

It'll be interesting to see if Mayo has to follow through on his rule. I'm sure the last thing he wants, for example, is for presumed starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett to have play the entire game against the Eagles on Thursday night.

Related: Former Vols OC Alex Golesh gets candid about taking over a tough situation at Tennessee in 2021