The Jacksonville Jaguars will take part in three joint practices this summer, one before each preseason game.
Last year, the Jaguars took part in only one joint practice. So what is it about these joint sessions that head coach Liam Coen values so much?
Jaguars’ 2026 joint practice schedule
Live reps for starters
Across the NFL, joint practices have become common practice for most teams and are quite valuable. They provide an opportunity for players, particularly starters and key contributors who may not participate in the preseason, to get some game-like reps against an opponent, while still being in a somewhat controlled practice environment.
This then gives Coen the flexibility to not play his starters in the preseason, with those players getting good practice time against another team’s ones.
Different looks for the Jaguars to go up against
Joint practices can help break up the monotony of training camp, along with providing the offensive and defensive units with different looks, rather than going up against their own team each day.
With these practices not televised, teams have the opportunity to go a little deeper into the playbook instead of running the very vanilla looks that we see during the preseason.
What Liam Coen had to say about joint practices
During offseason programs, Liam Coen discussed the value of holding joint practices.
“Look, because you’re in a little bit more of a controlled setting that you can get the guys you want specific reps and not have to worry about as much like you’re putting a guy in a full-contact situation in preseason games that don’t count against our schedule record,” Coen said, via SI’s John Shipley of the Prowler Podcast. “And so I think it’s something a little bit more controlled. I think the guys — the teams that we’re practicing against have a good understanding of what that looks like, and being able to do that together, and the guys, they get more competitive. I mean, you look at Miami last year, although we had some ups-and-downs in that practice, I thought we saw some good competitive juice, some real game-like participation in those practices, so I think you’re always trying to simulate game-like and I think that those opportunities simulate game-like more than anything.”
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Why Jaguars value joint practices under Liam Coen
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Jaguars Wire / Jaguars Wire
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By Paul Bretl, Jaguars Wire | USA TODAY Network
