The Green Bay Packers will host the New Orleans Saints in Green Bay for joint practices before the two teams meet for a preseason game at Lambeau Field during the second week of the exhibition schedule in August.
Coach Matt LaFleur confirmed the practices on Tuesday.
“We’re going to practice against the Saints, so they’ll be our Week 2 opponent,” LaFleur said. “I talked to Dennis Allen yesterday, and we’re just working out the details of what days we’re going to practice and how we’re going to practice.”
Times and dates of the practice are to be determined. The NFL has not yet announced the time and date of the Packers-Saints preseason game, but it is expected to be played between Aug. 18-21.
LaFleur believes there is real value in holding joint practices with another team during camp.
“I think it affords you the opportunity to have your guys go out there and compete against something different,” LaFleur said. “It just brings a different level of competition, I would say, and what it really does for us is it affords us the ability to feel like we got good work in with the veterans, and then not play them in the (preseason) game.”
The Packers have enjoyed hosting joint practices since hiring LaFleur. The team hosted the Houston Texans in 2019, was scheduled to host the Cleveland Browns in 2020 (canceled by the pandemic) and then hosted the New York Jets in 2021.
