Like the Nutcracker drill and tiny college dormitory beds, two-a-day practices have gone out of vogue in NFL training camps.
Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News, clearly in an enterprising mood, found out that the Falcons lead the league in scheduled two-a-days with 14 this training camp. The Cowboys come in second with 12, and the Ravens clock in at third with ten.
There’s a very good chance the Patriots will crack the top three. The first seven days of Patriots training camp are scheduled to be two-a-days (fun!), but a complete schedule isn’t available.
Now teams change their schedules all the time in camp, but the relative dearth of two-a-days shows how times have changed with improved offseason conditioning.
The Titans and Bears have completely eliminated two-a-days, although Tennessee has a modified version that includes a brief special teams practice in the afternoon. Jeff Fisher believes staying away from two-a-days helps avoid burnout.
Then again, Fisher’s Titans teams are 9-15 in the season’s first quartet of games over the last six years.