Why Joint Practices Are All the NFL Rage, and Here to Stay

With a decrease in preseason games and the likelihood of an 18th regular-season contest, coaches have turned to creating their own game-specific scenarios.

Titans head coach Robert Saleh on joint practices: “I’m a big advocate of joint practices. I think they’re a really good way to have a game-like experience that’s controlled.” | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

PHOENIX — Controlled environments. Structure. The NFL’s version of utopia. 

While utopia doesn’t exist, joint practices might be the closest things to it for coaches. The actions are scripted to the last detail, with coaches from both teams working together to ensure their squads get the right amount of work in all areas. It’s something that can’t be duplicated in a preseason game, where situational football is dictated by the score and clock, two things that don’t exist on the practice field. 

“I’m a big advocate of joint practices,” Titans coach Robert Saleh said during the AFC coaches breakfast at the owners meetings on Tuesday. “I don’t believe in two joint practices in one week, but I believe in one per team. I want three of them if we could, but I think they’re a really good way to have a game-like experience that’s controlled. It’s amplified; the intensity is a lot higher. To do it for one day, I think, is beneficial for the players, especially when you talk health and safety.”

And why doesn’t Saleh believe in the back-to-back joint practices?

“That’s when the coaches and the players go into their meeting rooms, and they talk about how they just got their asses kicked, and then the next day is all about fighting. So it’s a waste of energy, a waste of time.”

Why joint practices are increasing

Over the past few years, we’ve seen an increase in joint practices, especially after the league shortened its preseason schedule from four games to three in 2021, when the regular season expanded to 17 contests. With fewer chances to see other teams and evaluate based on competition, coaches have turned to creating their own game-specific scenarios.

As talk of an 18-game schedule has heated up this week in Phoenix, a further reduction of the preseason slate could be on the horizon. If it happens, joint practices might become more important and prevalent than ever before.

Last year alone, there were 24 joint practices during August. In 2024, there were 22, as coaches are seeing a consistent benefit of getting work done in ideal conditions, while also ramping up the intensity, something which can wane when cracking pads daily against the same teammates.

To that point, Liam Coen is hoping to expand his team’s joint-practice profile. As a first-time coach, Coen wasn’t able to land the summer schedule that he hoped for with the Jaguars limited to a single joint practice with the in-state Dolphins. 

“[Last year], we chose to play our players in preseason games, which was against my inclination,”Coen says. “It was against my belief, let’s just put it that way. I just have a hard time putting a guy in a game that doesn’t technically count, like toward the real season and real competition, I guess you could call it. Those games that really don’t matter at the end of the day, that’s reality. I have a hard time putting somebody in a game for an exhibition like that. My preference would be to do joint [practices] and not play them.”

While preseason games are unlikely to ever completely disappear because of the revenue they generate through ticket sales, local TV deals and game-day purchases, the younger wave of coaches, including Coen, is moving further away from treating them as legitimate. 

In recent years, many coaches have kept star players out of preseason games almost entirely, instead letting them sit on the sidelines until Week 1 to preserve their bodies. This has been true with Nick Sirianni in Philadelphia and Sean McVay in Los Angeles, who have combined for two titles and four Super Bowl appearances over the past eight seasons. If the season grows once more, you can bet more rest will be coming. 

In Indianapolis, Colts coach Shane Steichen also sees the benefit of practicing against another team periodically in the summer. Steichen, who put the Colts through joint practices with the Ravens and Packers last year, believes it is an opportunity to work on specific packages and situations, ranging from third-down offense and red zone to two-minute drills for offense and defense. 

“I enjoy joint practices, to be honest,” Steichen says. “I think it gives our guys an opportunity to see some new faces during training camp. Training camp is long, but it also gives them a chance to go against new schemes offensively and defensively and special teams. It brings out the competitive nature of those guys in a controlled environment, where guys aren’t being tackled to the ground. I think it brings out the best in both teams when you have those joint practices.”

Andy Reid has not conducted joint practices as coach of the Chiefs. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Chiefs, Bengals among teams not participating

Last year, the Bengals were one of three teams not to participate in a joint practice after having one with the Colts in mid-August the year before. The only other two were the Saints and Chiefs. Kansas City is the only team not to participate in a joint practice over the past two seasons, as coach Andy Reid has never had one scheduled since taking over the Chiefs in 2013.

Bengals coach Zac Taylor explained that not holding one in ’25 was more about focusing on installing the defense under new coordinator Al Golden. While it’s obviously uncertain, there could be a return to practicing with another team this summer.

“You get a chance to control the environment,” Taylor says. “Get on the same page with the other coach, map out some situations you want to make sure you hit. If it doesn’t go exactly how you want it, you can repeat the drill. Whereas in a game, you’re at the mercy of how the game is going to flow.”

When the training camp schedules come out in June, keep an eye on the number of joint practices, as most NFL teams will be scheduling them in the coming months. 

If there’s anything coaches love beyond winning, it’s controlling the environment, and to that end, nothing compares to a joint practice.

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