Vikings to host Patriots for joint practices before preseason game

The Vikings will host the New England Patriots for joint practices ahead of the preseason game between the two teams this August, they announced on Monday.

The game is set for Saturday, August 16 at U.S. Bank Stadium. If the schedule is the same as it has been in previous years, that will mean joint practices at TCO Performance Center on Wednesday and Thursday of that week, with a day off on Friday.

New Patriots coach Mike Vrabel is familiar with bringing a team to Minnesota for joint practices during training camp, having done so in his final year as the Titans' head coach in 2023.

"We’d love to go to Minnesota," Vrabel said in March. "We practiced with them a few years ago in Tennessee. It’s a nice setup. They got a beautiful facility, there’s a hotel close by to walk to the field, and we enjoyed working with Kevin (O'Connell) and B-Flo (Brian Flores) and their team."

Vrabel played for the Patriots from 2001-08. In that '08 season with New England, O'Connell was a rookie quarterback and Flores was a first-year assistant coach who had moved over from the scouting side of things to join Bill Belichick's staff.

The reports from the NFL's annual league meeting in late March were that the Vikings hoped to host both the Patriots and the Rams for joint practices, but it must not have worked out to get LA on their preseason schedule.

The Patriots are coming off of their second consecutive 4-13 season and moved on from head coach Jerod Mayo after just one year. They're hoping the duo of Vrabel and second-year quarterback Drake Maye can get them back to their winning ways.

New England will bring some familiar faces to Eagan when it visits: Stefon Diggs, Garrett Bradbury, Josh Dobbs, Vederian Lowe, Jaquelin Roy, Khyiris Tonga, John Parker Romo, and Tyrese Robinson are former Vikings players currently on the Patriots' 90-man roster.

Here's the Vikings' full preseason schedule:

• Sat, Aug. 9: vs. Texans (3:00 p.m. CT)
• Sat, Aug. 16: vs. Patriots (12:00 p.m. CT)
• Fri, Aug. 22: at Titans (7:00 p.m. CT)

It's unclear if there's any possibility of additional joint practices with either the Texans or Titans. The Vikings hosted both the Titans and Cardinals in that capacity in 2023. They also hosted the 49ers for joint practices in 2022 and did them in Cleveland last year. Because O'Connell rarely plays his starters in preseason games, those are highly valuable reps for the first-team offense and defense as the Vikings prepare for the regular season.