Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots to hold joint practices before first preseason game

In preparation for their first preseason game, the Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots will hold joint practices in Foxborough.

The Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots are about as far apart in terms of success as any two NFL franchises could be, but the two teams will be on the same field earlier than most thought. Before their first preseason game on August 10, the Patriots will host the Jaguars for practices  Monday, August 7 and Tuesday, August 8.

Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone made a statement about the practices:

"“Having the opportunity to practice with the defending world champions to begin our preseason schedule will be beneficial for our football team,” said Jaguars Head Coach Doug Marrone. “We appreciate Coach Belichick extending the invitation to our organization.”"

The Jaguars have held joint practices before with former head coach Gus Bradley, but it feels like a different situation when Bill Belichick is involved.

If there’s any team the Jaguars should be trying to emulate in essentially every aspect, it’s the Patriots. From the coach on down to the staff, the Patriots have been a successful organization since the turn of the millennium and everyone else has been playing catch up.

While holding two practices together certainly isn’t going to make a dramatic change in how the Jaguars do things, hopefully Doug Marrone will be a much more adaptive coach than Gus Bradley was and learn a few things during the joint sessions.

Most importantly, quarterback Blake Bortles will get a good look at how hall of fame QB Tom Brady operates in a practice setting and how he approaches getting ready. Bortles has been the focal point of most of the scrutiny of the franchise this offseason and many have questioned his commitment to improving his craft.

It’s just practice, but it’s something.