Up until now, the New Orleans Saints were among the three NFL teams without a scheduled joint practice. The Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals are now the only two teams to not schedule one. That has changed as they announced a joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams for Thursday afternoon at 1 CT.
With their previous one with the Los Angeles Chargers cancelled (the Chargers had too many injuries), head coach Sean McVay has been hopeful to get this done. "I had some good conversations with Kellen Moore after our game last night and spoke with him this morning." McVay said. "They're obviously getting ready to play right now, and so I am hopeful that we'll be able to get something coordinated with them on Thursday."
Just a week ago, head coach Kellen Moore said that the team would be simulating a joint practice environment in preparation for the game against the Chargers. With that experience in their back pocket, a real joint practice could be very beneficial, especially with a team like the Rams, who don't have the starters play in the preseason at all.
Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough are the biggest benefactors in Saints, Rams joint practice
With the ongoing quarterback battle, a chance to practice against the Rams could be crucial in making the final decision as to who will be at the helm. Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough are locked in a close race. The practice is only one day, but this will be one of the more important days in the competition. The player who walks out of that day looking better may push the battle in their favor due to degree of difficulty.
The Rams don't play their starters in the preseason, so this practice gives both of the quarterbacks a chance to take reps against a first-team defense. This wasn't on the table for either quarterback without these practices. Now both players should be given the chance to prove themselves against the Rams' first team defense.
The extensive work against an opponent's best is the largest benefit of joint practices, and it doesn't stop at the quarterbacks. A joint practice allows players who rested during the first week of preseason play to rest for the second week in a row, making them that much more rested for the regular season. There's a good chance many of those players wouldn't play anyway, and this joint practice lessens the need to do it.