FOXBOROUGH -- The Patriots held a showcase practice for season-ticket holders Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium, and the fans were treated to a few scuffles as part of the show.

The first dust-up occurred when the usually mild-mannered Nate Solder shoved linebacker Brandon Spikes during an 11-on-11 drill. The shove set off a brief scuffle that involved most of the team.

On Thursday, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said it was no big deal.

“Football,it’s competitive,” said Belichick. “We’re in a competitive camp. Some of those things are just part of football.”

Was the coach happy with the intensity?

“Football’s football,” said Belichick. “We deal with a lot of things in football.”

The Patriots were set to practice Thursday afternoon on the practice fields next to Gillette Stadium.

“We’ll probably slow things down here a little bit this afternoon,” said Belichick. “They’re all working hard, taking the coaching that we’ve asked them to do and build on them. I see some improvement here. We’ve got a long way to go.”