PHOENIX – Titans coach Robert Saleh loves joint practices during training camp.
His hope is to hold joint practices with three different teams during the preseason this year as the team gears up for the 2026 season.
If things go according to plan, the Panthers will travel to Nashville to work with the Titans leading up to preseason game No.2, and the Titans will hold a joint session against another team in Nashville against a team that's to be determined. The Titans also plan to practice on the road against a third preseason opponent, leading up to a preseason game.
Nothing is official yet, because the NFL's schedule – preseason or regular season – won't be official and made public until May.
"I am a big proponent of joint practices," Saleh said from the NFL owners meetings on Tuesday. "My hope is that, and I think we're scheduled to have one with Carolina. I don't know who our week one and week three opponents are going to be. I think (Carolina) is week two, but the schedule hasn't come out yet – that's what we asked for. I don't know who our two other opponents are, but I'll definitely ask to see if we can get a joint practice with those guys also."
The Titans went on the road for a long stretch during training camp last year, but because of this year's preseason schedule – two home preseason games, one road preseason games – the team is expected to spend more time in Nashville, at Vanderbilt Heath Football Center.
Instead of two joint practices with each team, something the Titans have done in the past, Saleh said he wants to hold one practice with each squad instead.
"I don't believe in the two joint practices in one week, I believe in one per team," he said. "I want three of them, if we could. I think it's a really good way to have a game like experience that is controlled. It is amplified, the intensity is a lot higher – to do it one day I think is very beneficial for the players, especially when you talk health and safety."
So, why not two days of joint practices with each team?
"Because that's when the coaches and the players go into their meeting rooms and they talk about how they got their asses kicked, and the next day it is all about fighting. So it's a waste of energy, a waste of time."
