All 32 Clubs to Hold Practice on July 31 as Part of Training Camp: Back Together Saturday Fueled By Gatorade
NFL clubs this week begin on-field preparations for the 2021 season. The Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers, who meet in the NFL/Hall of Fame Game on August 5 (8:00 PM ET, FOX) in Canton, OH, have rookies and veterans reporting Wednesday and will be the first clubs to have their entire teams on-site.
The defending Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who host Dallas in the league’s annual primetime kickoff game on September 9 (8:20 PM ET, NBC), have rookies reporting on Tuesday, with veterans reporting on Saturday.
Also on Tuesday, rookies will report for the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots and New York Jets. For every club except Dallas, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, veterans will report Tuesday, July 27.
On Saturday, July 31, for the first time ever, all 32 clubs will hold practice with club-led fan events. July 31 will be branded as Training Camp: Back Together Saturday Fueled By Gatorade, with NFL Network providing 13 hours of live coverage, beginning at 9:00 AM ET. NFL Network’s “Inside Training Camp” kicks off July 26, providing extensive coverage of training camps throughout the summer.
In a growing trend, 21 clubs have scheduled joint practices with other teams. The Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams (August 7 at the Marriott Residence Inn at River Ridge in Oxnard, CA) are the first teams scheduled to see another club’s jersey during camp. The Rams are among seven teams that will practice against multiple opponents. Carolina, Miami, New England, the New York Giants, New York Jets and Philadelphia also will see two foes in camp.
This summer will also feature the return of several clubs holding camp away from their facilities, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced every team to “stay home” for camp last year.
Five clubs will be spending the entirety of camp away from their facilities – Carolina (Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC), Dallas (Marriott Residence Inn at River Ridge in Oxnard, CA), Indianapolis (Grand Park in Westfield, IN), Kansas City (Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, MO) and the Los Angeles Rams (University of California, Irvine). Washington will spend its first five days of camp at the Bon Secours Training Center in Richmond, VA, before returning home to its facility in Ashburn, VA, for the remainder of camp.
Not including last year, the 26 clubs (81 percent) that are opting to “stay home” this summer are the most since 2000. Teams considered to be “staying home” hold camp at their respective practice facility, home stadium or at a site within 10 miles of their team headquarters. In 2000, only 10 of 31 (32 percent) teams stayed close to home.
