Rich on the Perks and Perils (Lots and Lots of Perils) of NFL Training Camp Joint Practices

Coaches love joint practices for one very simple reason. Robert Saleh put it about as plainly as it can be put when the Tennessee Titans coach was on the show this week: instead of leaning against our own people, we're going to lean against your bodies.

That is the entire appeal. Preseason games barely feature starters anymore because nobody wants to risk them, so teams that happen to be geographically convenient meet up in the week leading into the game and run real football against somebody else's roster. It changes the mental math for a defensive lineman, too. Jeffery Simmons no longer has to think about not hurting Cam Ward, or about being mindful of Brock Purdy last week. He gets to go.

The problem is what has been happening at those practices.

Tyler Biadasz, the center the Los Angeles Chargers went out and got specifically so Justin Herbert would not spend another season behind a line that could not protect him, is out indefinitely with an ACL injury and additional damage to his left knee, according to Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport. He is scheduled to see more doctors for clarity. Biadasz had played at least 15 games a year since 2021, right up until he put on a Chargers uniform.

Rich did not sugarcoat what that means. The Chargers were building a new offensive system under Mike McDaniel, planning to protect Herbert and run the football, and the one player they made sure to acquire has been ripped out of it. The center is the last guy any team wants to lose. Jake Slaughter is up again.

There is history here, too. The Chargers lost two of their own linemen last season, one of them in their own practice across the street, including Rashawn Slater. Now they open at home against Arizona and then host Las Vegas, two teams that picked first and third, before visiting Buffalo and Seattle, welcoming Denver, going to Kansas City and finally reaching their bye. Last year they flew all the way to Brazil, won, and started 3-0 before Jackson Dart got to them.

Then there is the other kind of peril, the one that ends with fists. Cowboys and Saints threw hands at their joint practice, and Brian Schottenheimer's postgame assessment was a comedy in three acts. "A little chippy, not the way we like to do business, got to be better, but I got to look at the film," he said, adding that his team is "certainly not going to take from anybody." He wants his guys playing on the edge without going over the edge. Asked whether he had seen enough to name a week one starter, Schottenheimer punted: "Right now I'm just in charge of fight club."

Kirk Cousins found his own version of frustration at the Texans and Raiders practice, and his version of angry is a man gesturing politely with his right hand. "My elbow got hit, and I joke with Max, I say you can touch me anywhere you want, just don't touch my arm," Cousins said. Ribs and hips are fine, he explained, because that simulates what he needs to feel. Elbows and shoulders sprain. "I might as well just take the red jersey off," he said. "You're playing with sometimes an understood rule, and if it's not understood, then what are we doing?"

Nobody is canceling joint practices. But if the injuries and the brawls keep stacking up, the whispers start, and they will get louder than a preseason week two Thursday night deserves.