The Cowboys have held joint practices during the preseason in four of the last five years.
2025: Practiced with the Rams in Oxnard prior to their preseason opener. 2024: Practiced with the Rams in Oxnard prior to their preseason opener, and then held another joint practice with the Rams a week later. 2023: – – 2022: Held joint practices with the Broncos in Denver prior to their preseason opener and added a joint practice with the Chargers in Costa Mesa prior to their second preseason game. 2021: Held a joint practice with the Rams in Oxnard a few
days after opening the preseason in the HoF Game against the Steelers.
Joint practices are often held in the week before the two teams meet in the preseason. The Cowboys practiced with their preseason opener opponent three times in the last four years.
This year’s opponent in the preseason opener are the Seahawks, and although neither the Seahawks nor the Cowboys have announced anything, rumors in Seattle are that a joint practice with the Cowboys is in the works.
Seattle Sports 710 host Brock Huard heard through the grapevine that there is a push to have the Seahawks welcome the Cowboys to a joint practice in Seattle prior to their Aug. 15 preseason opener
“From what I understand and the conversations I’m having, they are really, really attempting to make that work,” Huard said. “And that would be so awesome for the fans, the experience. I’ve gotten to see that in the Denver market. The Broncos have been able to do (joint practices) and get opponents to come in. It’s really cool.
“And in many ways, the intensity of those couple practices are better than the preseason game, because they’re getting after it, because it’s ones on ones. That red zone and that high red zone last year in (Green Bay), that was the first coming-out party of … JSN and Sam Darnold. That was kind of the first little appetizer and vision of what could be and what was to come.
The Cowboys may not like the idea of giving up a couple of days in Oxnard for the trip to Seattle, but they’ve done it previously with Denver, so they should find a way to make that work. And a reunion with DeMarcus Lawrence, Dante Fowler, and Aden Durde would add some extra fun to the event.
The Cowboys may leave it at one practice, but if they are looking at a second joint practice, the Saints are visiting Dallas for the preseason finale, and they are still looking for teams to set up joint practices with.
[Coach Kellen] Moore said he is looking forward to holding several joint practices; New Orleans had a single joint practice against the Rams last year in California.
“We’ll be able to do some joint practices out there, finalizing some of those opportunities there,” Moore said. “Our goal is to try and get a few more joint practices this year, which I think will benefit our team.”
Moore of course has everybody in Dallas on speed dial, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get things going. The Cowboys front office would probably like the idea of hosting a joint practice at the Star in Frisco, especially since it would be the first of its kind.
Joint practices can help break up the monotony of training camp, but they can also help improve player evaluation. As camp wears on, players begin figuring out and keying in on offensive and defensive tendencies of their teammates on the other side of the ball, which can make them look better than they actually are.
Practicing against an opponent that uses different schemes will give the players a new and different challenge, and gives coaches and scouts new and different film to evaluate. It also provides players with the opportunity to practice (and show up on film) in a “live” environment, especially since coaches usually script these practices.
Coaches can work their two-minute drills, practice third-down situations, throw in some red zone work, and check out how the new wrinkles they’ve added in the offseason stand up against real competition. All in a controlled, scripted environment – something they won’t get in the three preseason games.
Even though preseason games may not be real NFL football, they are still real games, where the play calls depend on the ebb and flow of the game. Your first team offense may not get a red zone possession before they hit their allotted snap count; your return unit may end up with a bunch of touchbacks and no returns; and the new play-action defense you just installed may not get tested because the other team had no interest in play-action.
All of this can be properly managed in a joint practice, where you can ensure the entire depth chart gets the reps they need. Because the practices are scripted, each team gets to practice exactly what they want – against NFL caliber competition.
And just as importantly, the joint practices allow veterans to get situational snaps in practice and then watch players on the bubble play in their stead in the preseason games, which will keep a team’s key players out of the trainer’s room or doctor’s office in August and ready to go in September.
But not all teams like joint practices.
The Chiefs famously have not held a joint practice with anybody since Andy Reid took over because he doesn’t want to give anything away.
The Seahawks had not held any joint practices since 1991 before starting again last year, and now seem to be wooing the Cowboys.
The Cowboys stopped doing joint practices from 2016-2020 in part because their last joint practice against the Rams in 2015 blew up: the second day of joint practice degenerated into extended brawls that ultimately led to the cancellation of remainder of practice.
Other teams don’t like the extra travel, don’t like a break in their camp routine, or sometimes simply can’t find a partner.
Over to you: Joint practices, yay or nay?
