NFL Training Camps Open This Week

NFL clubs this week begin on-field preparations for the 2024 season. The Houston Texans – with rookies and veterans reporting on July 17 – and the Chicago Bears – with veterans reporting on July 19 –will be the first two clubs with their entire teams on site. The two franchises are set to meet in the NFL/Hall of Fame Game on August 1 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC) in Canton, Ohio.

The Baltimore Ravens and defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, set to meet in the league’s annual primetime kickoff game on Thursday, September 5 (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC), will each have their full teams on site on July 20. The Ravens rookies reported on July 13.

Green Bay, who will play Philadelphia in the NFL’s first-ever regular season game in Brazil on Friday, September 6 (8:15 p.m. ET, Peacock), will also have their entire team on site this weekend (July 21). Twenty-eight clubs will have their entire team report by July 23 while Atlanta, Dallas, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh will have veterans report on July 24.

For the fourth-consecutive year, all 32 clubs will kick off Training Camp by holding practices with club-led fan events. Training Camp: Back Together Weekend Presented by YouTube TV will feature celebrations that will once again span two days – Saturday, July 27 and Sunday, July 28.  The on-site and televised event will give fans a first look at their favorite new and veteran players, as well as their team’s roster depth heading into another exciting NFL season.

NFL Network, NFL+, ABC and ESPN will provide complete coverage of all the action, including practices, player interviews, behind-the-scenes moments and fanfests all over the country. Beginning at 10 a.m. ET on July 27 and continuing at 3:00 p.m. ET on July 28, NFL Network will provide 16 hours of live coverage over the two days as teams across the league hit the field. NFL Network’s “Inside Training Camp” coverage begins Monday, July 29 and provides daily coverage of training camps through Wednesday, August 7.

In a growing trend, 30 clubs have scheduled joint practices with other teams, beginning with the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers at The Bolt in El Segundo, Calif., on August 4, and Detroit and the New York Giants at Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J., on August 5. The Rams – with four joint practices – as well as Miami and the New York Jets – three joint practices each – are among the 10 teams that have multiple joint practices scheduled, along with Cincinnati, Green Bay, Indianapolis, the Los Angeles Chargers, the New York Giants, Tampa Bay and Washington.

Eight clubs will be spending the entirety of camp away from their facilities – Buffalo (St. John Fisher University in Rochester, N.Y.), Dallas (Marriott Residence Inn in Oxnard, Calif.), Indianapolis (Grand Park in Westfield, Ind.), Kansas City (Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Mo.), Las Vegas (Jack Hammett Sports Complex in Costa Mesa, Calif.), the Los Angeles Rams (Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Calif.), New Orleans (University of California, Irvine in Irvine, Calif.) and Pittsburgh (Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa.).

Excluding 2020, the 24 clubs (75 percent) that are opting to “stay home” are the fourth-most such teams 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.

Image courtesy Deposit Photo.