Arizona Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur said on Mar. 30 that the team is planning to hold joint preseason practices with the Green Bay Packers, though final approval from the National Football League is still required. The announcement follows an ESPN report and comes as both teams are led by brothers who will not face each other in the regular season.
Joint practices offer teams a chance to compete against different players and schemes before the start of the season. LaFleur said he values these sessions for breaking up training camp routines and providing fresh competition. “When that gets done, yeah we’ll go up there,” LaFleur said about traveling to Green Bay for the practices. He added, “The whole point, I love our training camp setup. We are away from the heat (in State Farm Stadium). We are on the grass. But at some point we have to go back to Tempe and get going there.” He also joked about seeking cooler locations: “To do the joint after we get back and get out of that heat, I told some of the guys, if we could go to Canada, we would. They just don’t have a team.”
LaFleur explained why Wisconsin is a logical choice: “The next best thing is to go up to Wisconsin since we can’t go to Seattle for obvious reasons.” He emphasized his preference for facing new opponents during camp: “For the same team to be hitting each other that many weeks in a row, you’ve got to break it up. You just have to.” While acknowledging similarities between defensive schemes—since Jonathan Gannon was recently hired as Green Bay’s defensive coordinator—LaFleur said this would not affect preparations significantly.
The Arizona Cardinals play their home games in Glendale, Arizona according to their official website. The franchise serves fans across greater Phoenix according to its official website and competes in the NFC West division according to its official website. Founded as what is now considered America’s oldest continuously operating professional football franchise according to their official site, they captured an NFC championship in 2008 as reported by their official site.
Looking ahead, LaFleur summed up his thoughts on joint sessions with Green Bay: “Inevitably, we know what is going to happen after you keep hitting your own brother after awhile. We are going to hug each other after, but when you’re going you’re going. It should be competitive.”
