Should the Patriots have drafted more offense?
NFL Schedule Release Day 2023 is set for Thursday, May 11. While we expect a few games to leak in advance, we can confirm one of the preseason games, which will come off of the first reported joint practice of the summer.
According to Matt Schneidman and Chad Graff of The Athletic, the New England Patriots will be traveling to Green Bay this summer to hold joint practices with the Green Bay Packers. Bill Belichick has said that joint practices, in the day and age of limited contact at practice and a shortened preseason schedule, hold more value than the preseason games themselves.
They can be a great measure of talent and competition…or in the case of many in recent years the joint practices can be a prime occasion for scuffles, skirmishes and on-field struggles between the two teams (Patriots and Panthers went at it last summer in Foxboro). It’s early and it’s hot and there are a lot of men fighting for jobs.
The Pats and Pack have never had a joint practice before, but will grind it out together for a few days most likely before a pretend season affair at Lambeau. The two teams played last season and won’t hook up for another three years in the regular season. Last season’s game was noteworthy on a number of fronts, from the emergence of backup legend Bailey Zappe to Jack Jones’ pick-six of Aaron Rodgers and the Pats pushing the Packers to overtime. The Pats will get a firsthand look at Jordan Love as QB1 for the Pack now with Aaron Rodgers gone to the Jets. Though perhaps this will be a prime time for Bill Belichick and Matt LaFleur to meet up and share notes on defending Rodgers.
Last season the Pats shared joint practices with the Raiders as well as a preseason game and then a regular-season tilt. We won’t remind ourselves how that one ended again.
As to whether this will be the only joint practice of the preseason? There’s a rumor that the Patriots and Titans will hold joint practices this summer as well, though that’s unconfirmed as of yet. The Pats and Titans shared the practice fields in Nashville during the summer of 2019, Tom Brady’s final year in Foxboro. Perhaps if Mike Vrabel wins the fan vote for the Patriots Hall of Fame a preseason game in Foxboro would be as good an occasion as any for him to receive the honor and be paid tribute by the organization and fans.
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