Inside The Vikings

Reports: Vikings hope to hold joint practices with Patriots, Rams this year

If approved by the NFL, the Vikings will host two teams for joint practices at TCO Performance Center in August.

Will Ragatz

Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel works with his team during a joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings in Eagan, Minn., Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023.
Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel works with his team during a joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings in Eagan, Minn., Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK
In this story:

The Vikings are hoping to host multiple teams for joint practices during training camp at TCO Performance Center this year, according to numerous reports. They're in talks with both the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams about doing so. The NFL will need to approve in order for the sessions to be finalized.

The Patriots would be the first of the two teams to come to Minnesota in August. The Pats have also reportedly discussed having joint practices with the Washington Commanders, but it sounds like New England head coach Mike Vrabel wants to bring his team to Eagan.

"We’d love to go to Minnesota," Vrabel said, via the Boston Globe's Ben Volin. Why? "Cheese curds. ... We practiced with them a few years ago in Tennessee. It’s a nice setup. They got a beautiful facility, there’s a hotel close by to walk to the field, and we enjoyed working with Kevin (O'Connell) and B-Flo (Brian Flores) and their team."

In 2023, Vrabel's last year as head coach of the Titans, his team came to Minnesota for a pair of joint practices leading into a preseason game at U.S. Bank Stadium. As a player, Vrabel overlapped with O'Connell on the Patriots during the 2008 season (Flores was in his first year as an assistant coach that year). And while Minnesota may not be known for cheese curds to the same extent as Wisconsin, you can still find some good ones in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

The Vikings also hosted the Cardinals for joint practices in 2023 and the 49ers in 2022. Last year, they went on the road for joint practices with the Browns.

O'Connell's connection with the Rams and Sean McVay needs no explanation. Assuming that gets finalized, the Vikings will be competing in joint practices against a team that beat them twice last season, including in blowout fashion in the first round of the playoffs. That would be an excellent test.

In the past, the joint practices have consisted of two sessions, followed by a day off before the preseason game that weekend. With O'Connell almost never playing his starters in preseason action, the joint sessions allow those players to get in a ton of very valuable reps against a different offense or defense than their own.

Recommended articles

Published
Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

Home/News