Things have changed just a tad since 1986, when Eagles-Lions joint practices at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., turned into an all-out riot between Buddy Ryan’s crazed Eagles and Darryl Rogers’ meek Detroit Lions.
These days, the idea isn’t to get into as many fights as possible but to get in some high-intensity work against another team.
Buddy wanted his guys to fight. He loved it. He'd stand there during brawls twirling his whistle and smirking.
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Nick Sirianni’s message as the Eagles head to Foxborough, Mass., for a joint practice Tuesday with the Patriots is the opposite.
Be smart.
“You try to have meetings with the other coaches to try and figure out how they practice and how we practice and what’s acceptable – the ground rules,” Sirianni said.
“We’ll get together with the (Patriots) coaches and set down the rules of our players, and (we) know we will have to keep our composure in tough times. It’s going to be hot and competitive, but it's a good test to keep your composure in tough times, and that’s what we will preach to our guys.”
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This is the fourth straight year Sirianni has held at least one joint practice during training camp. Doug Pederson had sessions before the 2017 and 2019 seasons, and Chip Kelly had sessions before each of his three seasons.
Andy Reid doesn’t believe in joint practices and has never held them in 26 years as an NFL head coach with the Eagles and Chiefs. Before 2013, when the Eagles practiced with the Patriots at the NovaCare Complex, the Eagles hadn’t held joint practices since 1998, when the Eagles and Bills trained together at Lehigh.
Sirianni in his first three years scheduled two different joint practice sessions, but because of the way this year’s preseason schedule fell – the Eagles face the Ravens in the regular season – and the early start to the season on Sept. 6, the timing didn’t work out for a second set of practices. And because the Ravens preseason game was on Friday and the Patriots game is Thursday, one practice this week made the most sense.
“It's not a joint practice for us, it's a game,” Cam Jurgens said. “We're going to go into it with the same mentality like we do going into the game. So I think a lot of starters get a ton of reps. That's what we're planning on. It's how can you mimic a game without playing in the game.”
When the Eagles and Patriots worked together in 2013 and 2014, it was Tom Brady and Bill Belichick on the other sideline. Brady picked apart an overmatched defense, at one point completing 21 consecutive passes in 2013, many of them targeting Eagles corner Curtis Marsh.
Belichick is gone now, and Jerod Mayo, a Patriots linebacker from 2008 through 2015, is in his first summer as Patriots head coach.
“We’re going to be wearing the same color and it’s good to have joint practices to break up the monotony of training camp,” Mayo said Sunday.
The Eagles will see some familiar faces in Foxborough. Christian Elliss is a backup linebacker, Jalen Reagor is in his second year as a backup receiver and Mayo’s staff includes Bob Bicknell, who was on Kelly’s staff from 2013 through 2015, and Scott Peters, an Eagles’ 4th-round pick in 2002.
Sirianni loves joint practices to the point where they mean more to him in the evaluation process than preseason games. Because the practices aren’t televised, teams can run more of their regular-season stuff than they would in a preseason game.
“The intensity with how you practice (and) the habits that you have are all important,” Sirianni said. “When you get to go against somebody else, you go from competing against each other to with each other. I think that’s awesome. That’s a part of what brings people so close together in football.
“We battle with each other, day in and out, offensive coaches vs. defensive coaches. This will be different. This will be against New England. They’re well coached, and we have a lot of respect for them.”
History of Eagles joint practices
1985: Lions, Rochester, Mich. [two practices]
1986: Lions, Rochester, Mich. [two practices]
1997: Ravens, Lehigh [one practice]
1998: Bills, Lehigh [two practices]
2013: Patriots, NovaCare Complex [two practices]
2014: Patriots, Foxborough, Mass. [three practices]
2015: Ravens, NovaCare Complex [three practices]
2017: Dolphins, NovaCare Complex [two practices]
2019: Ravens, NovaCare Complex [two practices]
2021: Patriots, NovaCare Complex [two practices]; Jets, Florham Park, N.J. [two practices]
2022: Browns, Berea, Ohio [two practices]; Dolphins, Miami Gardens, Fla. [one practice]
2023: Colts, NovaCare Complex [two practices]; Browns, NovaCare Complex [two practices]