NY Giants will only be able to hold practices at team facility

There will be no joint practices for the NY Giants – or any NFL team this year – as the NFL has ruled teams can only practice at their home facilities.

Any NY Giants fans that were looking forward to seeing head coach Joe Judge reunite with former coaches he’s worked with can put that to bed as the NFL has ruled that all NFL teams can only practice at their home facility, while joint practices of any kind will be permitted.

The news comes shortly after New Jersey became one of the states that have said professional sports teams can resume physically practicing.

The NY Giants must be chomping at the bit to get out on the field in any capacity as the team has been only holding virtual practices and meetings, so the news is unlikely to bother anyone considering the circumstances.

For Big Blue, this actually means something as the team was expected to entertain a week of joint practices with the Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots – who they play in Week 2 and Week 4 of the preseason, respectively – in August.

Joint practices can be very beneficial for both teams involved as training camps can get monotonous and switching up the feel of things while being able to compete against players on another team is refreshing.

While we do sometimes see fights and skirmishes at these type of joint practices, it was doubtful that would happen with the Titans or Patriots as Joe Judge has a long history with both Titans coach Mike Vrabel, and of course, his mentor Bill Belichick.

Here’s the statement from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell:

"“The NFLPA was strongly in favor of these two decisions, which were made to limit exposure risks by avoiding the need for clubs to clean and maintain two facilities, by limiting the need for players and club staffs to travel to another location (sometimes located at a considerable distance from the home facility), and by limiting travel and contact between players on different clubs in the context of joint practices,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “These steps are being taken for the 2020 preseason to address the current conditions and are not expected to be in place in 2021.”"

Having a week of joint practices with the Patriots likely would have been very beneficial for Joe Judge and the NY Giants as the rookie coach could get back up closer and personal with his mentor and bend his ear on numerous topics as he learns his new job on the fly under difficult circumstances.

It is good news to hear that preseason is planned to go on as scheduled overall and that Goodell expects this to be a one-year thing.

For as much as ‘The Commish’ is detained around the league by fans, he’s had a solid handle on this entire COVID 19 epidemic as it relates to the NFL from the beginning and has appeared to make educated decisions while not rushing to judgment as many other leagues did.

As we get closer to September, it really seems like we might be getting a normal NFL season – sans fans in the stands – and now, even a pretty normal training camp and preseason.