Joint practices have become something of an annual tradition for many NFL teams, the Atlanta Falcons very much included. They’ll keep that tradition alive in 2026 by practicing twice against the Indianapolis Colts ahead of their Week 2 preseason game.
The Colts are an interesting opponent for this, as they’re a team that saw Atlanta last season in Germany,
have a potential last chance front office and coaching staff that has tied their 2026 fortunes to Daniel Jones, and a roster that is clearly talented but did not receive a lot of major upgrades this offseason. Because the Falcons seem likely to stick to playing their reserves in Week 2 with Week 3 serving as their preseason tune-up for starters, the actual preseason game might be something of a letdown. The practices, however, should be more lively and will give us some interesting glimpses into how the Falcons’ run defense looks against Jonathan Taylor, how this passing game fares against a secondary that has Sauce Gardner, and so forth.
We have so much to learn about this team, which has dozens of new faces who may make the final roster, a new head coach and offensive coaching staff, and new front office and president of football. Seeing them actually squaring off against other NFL teams, even outside of actual game settings, will help us to better understand what this team can do in 2026. I’ll look forward to these joint practices.
