Matt Patricia saw the benefit of having joint practices with other teams during the preseason during his time in New England. Now as the head coach of the Detroit Lions, Patricia wants to continue the exercise with his new franchise.
According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Patricia plans to schedule workouts with another team during the 2018 preseason.
“I think any of those situations that are advantageous to help you evaluate your team, especially in training camp, or be able to maybe change the scenery of training camp is always a good idea, if it works out,” Patricia said at the NFL’s annual league meeting last week. “If it’s something that as a team, another team or another situation that you think we’ll be able to work well together. It’s always about improving.”
The joint practice idea isn’t new to Patricia or the Lions. Detroit has had practices with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts the last two years. The Patriots have held joint practices for six straight years as the New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins have all shared a practice with New England over that span.
The Lions don’t yet have an agreement in place with another team for this summer. However, it’s typical that such a plan comes together with one of the team’s four preseason opponents.