The Washington Commanders will hold joint training camp practices with the Baltimore Ravens for two days in August in lead-up to the teams facing off in a preseason game at FedEx Field.
The Ravens are set to host the Commanders for practices on Aug. 15 and Aug. 16 at their facility in Owings Mills, Maryland. The joint practices will be a first for Washington under coach Ron Rivera, who explored the idea last year but was unable to finalize the deal. But this time, the Commanders found a partner in the Ravens, who they’ll face Aug. 21 in an exhibition in a game televised on ESPN.
“I go back to some of the experiences I had in my previous stint (in Carolina), we actually did it three times and two of those three times we came out and we had really good years,” Rivera said about wanting joint practices earlier this year.
These will be the first joint pracitces for Washington since 2018, when the team hosted the New York Jets during training camp in Richmond. During those sessions, several fights notably broke out — including a brawl that spilled out in front of fans. While practices between teams can be heated, coaches generally see value in them because they present a chance to compete against another team.
The Ravens have held joint practice sessions at their facility on three other occasions, last doing so in 2019 when they hosted the Los Angeles Rams.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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