IRVINE, Calif. -- A group of Los Angeles Rams fans standing near the 50-yard line kept taunting the Los Angeles Chargers' defensive backs. Finally, Casey Hayward, the Pro Bowl cornerback who led the NFL in interceptions last season, decided he wasn't going to stand for it.

"This is an offensive drill!" he yelled, turning around to stare at the group of hecklers. "We dominating it!"

A lot of smack talk, and ultimately a lot of punches, took place when the neighboring Rams and Chargers met for a joint practice for the second time in five days on Wednesday. The scene shifted from StubHub Center to UC Irvine, which opened it up to the public. Fans packed the shaded bleacher sections, crammed into the beer gardens and stood along the railing, filling this place with an energy that hadn't been seen since the Rams' very first practice last summer.

When Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers completed long passes in one field, the "Rams suck!" chants intensified.

When the Rams' offense took snaps on the other, a new, anti-Chargers cry was born: "Pay your rent!"

"You heard a lot of chants for both sides," Rams quarterback Jared Goff said. "It was fun. It was a really good experience out here, a lot of people."

The Rams' defense picked Rivers off a couple of times and generally did a nice job of minimizing deep balls. But they also threw punches. Cornerback Trumaine Johnson took off his helmet and swung at Chargers receiver Dontrelle Inman at one point, upset that Inman was driving his hand into his helmet off the snap. It prompted Nickell Robey-Coleman to shove Inman from behind, which led to Keenan Allen slamming Robey-Coleman to the grass. It was the first of three scuffles. The last two involved E.J. Gaines, who was ultimately told to leave by Rams coach Sean McVay.

"Where I’m from, if somebody's going to initiate it, we're going to finish it -- especially myself," Johnson said. "But it was fun, man. It was friendly competition."

Goff unofficially went 10-of-22 for about 110 yards during 11-on-11 drills, with one of those completions being a 25-yard hookup with rookie Cooper Kupp on play-action. During seven-on-seven drills, he threw a 30-yard pass over the top to Tyler Higbee and completed an 18-yard dart across the middle to Robert Woods. After a Saturday practice consumed by short passes, Goff was finally able to throw the ball downfield.

"About time, right?" Goff said, smiling. "Deep balls come. I think early on in camp you're just figuring out timing sometimes and just some different things with guys. It takes time sometimes. I think they are starting to come."

In 11-on-11 work, Goff attempted six passes to Pharoh Cooper, who's basically filling in for an ailing Tavon Austin. Goff attempted another five passes to Higbee, his roommate in training camp, and three each to Woods and Kupp. The Rams didn't cross the Chargers' 40-yard line in either of their two-minute drills, which Goff identified as "probably the one thing we want back."

Tackling wasn't allowed, but both teams played physically, especially the Chargers defensive backs, who frequently jammed Rams receivers at the line of scrimmage and delivered vicious blows when they came across the middle. Higbee felt "there were some times when their intensity was a little bit higher than ours. We needed to match it ourselves. I think we failed to a couple times."

The Rams' defense -- still without Aaron Donald, who continues to hold out -- more than made up for it. Enough so that Chargers running back Melvin Gordon said, "I think we've built a nice little rivalry with the Rams." The first fight took place within the first half-hour of practice; a third somehow erupted during special teams.

McVay spent all of Saturday guiding the offense, but went back and forth on Wednesday.

He spent a lot of his time breaking up physical altercations.

"Guys are great competitors," McVay said. "We always want to be mindful and smart with this, about how we do it."