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The New Orleans Saints have often chosen to meet up with some of their preseason opponents for joint practices after training camp, but they won’t be allowed to do that in 2020; ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Tuesday that the NFL said as much in a leaguewide memo to its teams.
With the novel coronavirus pandemic still putting stress on America’s health infrastructure, the NFL wants to limit contact between its teams as much as possible. So the Saints and every other team will have to wait a year to share the practice field with one another.
It’s a big blow to the Saints’ usual preseason strategy. New Orleans has held joint practices with recent preseason opponents including the Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans, and New England Patriots, and were expected to do the same with the Los Angeles Rams ahead of the inaugural game at their new SoFi Stadium. The Saints will also scrimmage with the Texans again this summer, so it’s possible they hoped for another series of shared practices.
Sean Payton has enjoyed the benefits of these joint practices, as do many coaches around the NFL. One of them is his Rams counterpart Sean McVay, who explained last summer that, “There’s a premium on some of these practices where we’re going to get a chance to compete against the Chargers twice while we’re out here and then the Raiders twice when we go up to Napa. If we feel like we’ve gotten the work necessary, then that can [really] almost serve as the preseason work in a little bit more of a controlled setting.”
Losing these opportunities to practice at a higher speed against different opponents could mean the Saints are set to open the year a little foggier than normal. With padless practices so common these days, players simply don’t get the time to run and rehearse at full tempo like they used to.
Then again, this Saints team is moving into 2020 with a lot of continuity. Most of their starting lineup is returning from last year’s roster, and they don’t have many newcomers under bright spotlights. Maybe extra time working together before the regular season starts is what they need to avoid the slow starts that have plagued them the last few years.
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