Packers hope joint practice vs. Bengals will create ‘great bonding experience’
The Green Bay Packers see value in the potential “bonding experience” of going on the road for a joint practice against the Cincinnati Bengals before the team’s preseason opener in August.
The current plan is for the Packers to practice in Green Bay on Tuesday, Aug. 8, fly to Cincinnati later than night, participate in the joint practice against the Bengals on Wednesday, Aug. 9, hold a walk-through practice on Thursday, Aug. 10 and then play the preseason opener on Friday, Aug. 11.
“It changes up the monotony of (training) camp, I’d say,” coach Matt LaFleur said Wednesday. “What’s great about going to Cincinnati is it’s going to give us a little bit of a longer bonding trip for our guys to hang out together. We think it’s going to be a really valuable experience.”
The Packers will be in Cincinnati for two nights before playing in the preseason game. A multi-day trip outside of Green Bay could be valuable in terms of helping a young team grow together before the regular season.
“Hopefully it will be a great bonding experience for our team,” LaFleur said.
The Packers will later host the New England Patriots for a multi-day set of joint practices before the team’s second preseason game. LaFleur has long been in favor of using joint practices during training camp as a way of creating controlled but competitive opportunities against an opponent.
While the Packers have typically hosted joint practices during the LaFleur era, going on the road creates a new opportunity for his team to get better and come together.
“We’ve got a great group of guys that are focused on getting better and becoming closer as a team,” LaFleur said.
