Sources confirm, as @BrianCoz said, the #Jets will have joint practices with the #Packers on Aug. 18 & 19.
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) July 2, 2021
The Green Bay Packers will welcome a few familiar faces to Wisconsin for a pair of joint practices during training camp.
According to Connor Hughes of The Athletic and Brian Costello of The New York Post, the Packers will host the New York Jets in Green Bay for joint practices on Aug. 18 and 19.
The Packers and Jets will then play a preseason game at Lambeau Field on Aug. 21.
The Jets are led by first-year coach Robert Saleh, a close friend of Packers coach Matt LaFleur. Saleh picked Mike LaFleur, Matt’s brother, to be his offensive coordinator.
Other connections include Jets quarterback James Morgan, a Green Bay native who wears No. 4 in honor of Brett Favre, and former Packers kicker Sam Ficken and former Packers guard Greg Van Roten. Also, former Packers safety Marquand Manuel is now the Jets defensive backs coach.
The Packers last held joint practices with the Houston Texans before the 2019 season. The team was scheduled to have joint practices with the Cleveland Browns last summer before the COVID-19 pandemic changed the NFL’s entire training camp plan.
Interestingly enough, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was a vocal critic of the joint practices following the 2019 session with the Texans, the team’s first joint practices with another team since 2005.
“I wouldn’t mind if they didn’t do it for another 14 years,” Rodgers said.
Two years later, the Packers will have more joint practices.
Rodgers is currently in a standoff with the organization over undisclosed issues, and it’s unclear if he’ll be reporting to training camp with the Packers in late July.
While the Packers might be starting the Jordan Love era, the Jets are transitioning to the Zach Wilson era. A standout at BYU, Wilson was the second overall pick in the 2021 draft.
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