Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters on Monday that the Cardinals will hold joint practices with the Indianapolis Colts this summer.
The Colts and Cardinals are slated to play at Indianapolis during the second week of the preseason on August 17th. The Cardinals will arrive a few days early for the joint practice sessions.
Gannon and Colts’ head coach Shane Steichen know each other well from their time together in Philadelphia, where Gannon was the defensive coordinator and Steichen the Eagels’ offensive coordinator.
Joint practices can prove to be very valuable. For one, joint practices can provide key starters with a competitive environment, something they may not see during the preseason if they are going to be held out of those games.
And while during the preseason, teams will run very vanilla offensive and defensive schemes in order to not give anything away, with joint practices not being televised, coaching staffs can be more willing to go a little deeper into their playbooks. This then provides a greater challenge for the opponent–which is what teams want in a practice.
On the flip side, something to be mindful of during these joint practices is that, more often than in actual games, tempers tend to flare up after the whistle.
In recent years, joint practices have become more common around the NFL. Last summer, the Colts held joint practices with the Chicago Bears.