The Patriots and Eagles are scheduled to play a pre-season game on August 19th but before they play the game, the two teams will hold joint practices in Philadelphia on August 16th and 17th.

Bill Belichick has long been an advocate of joint practices. He believes it is a good way to evaluate his team against another team in a practice setting while at the same time getting a look at players on other teams ahead of training camp cuts. Belichick also likes that he can collaborate with other coaches snd share ideas.

Due to COVID-19, there were no joint practices last summer. The Patriots last participated in joint practice sessions in 2019 against the Titans in Tennessee and the Lions in Detroit. In 2017, the Patriots hosted Jacksonville for joint sessions prior to the first preseason game of the season and then traveled to West Virginia, the site of the Texans training camp to practice against them prior to their second preseason matchup. In 2016, the Patriots hosted joint practices with the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears prior to their preseason games.

The Patriots and Eagles will be participating in joint practices for the third time in the last eight years. In 2013, the two teams held joint practices in Philadelphia and in 2014, the Patriots hosted the Eagles prior to their pre-season game at Gillette.

The Eagles have a new head coach in Nick Sirianni. It will be interesting to see how the practices are structured. Belichick and former Eagles coach Andy Reid were friends so it both knew what they wanted out of the practices.