Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots to hold joint practices

As was reported late last month, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots were looking to organize a few joint practices ahead of their preseason game on August 24. It appears that those plans will now go through, and the Pats and Bucs will hold a few joint practices, according to the Boston Globe (h/t JoeBucsFan). This isn't a first for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it has been a longtime since the Bucs have held joint practices. Under Raheem Morris, no such joint practices occurred.

With these joint practices ahead of the preseason game between the Patriots and Buccaneers, perhaps this time the Bucs defensive players won't have any trouble lining up in time. And perhaps this time, we won't see an embarrassment in preseason, like we did last year. The Patriots pummeled the Buccaneers 31-14, and the first-team vs first-team matchup was particularly embarrassing. That turned out to be an omen for the rest of the season. Hopefully they can avoid that embarrassment this year.