Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales told reporters Thursday that he’s reached out the Pittsburgh Steelers in the hopes of holding a joint practice prior to their preseason finale in August. As shared by The Athletic’s Joseph Person, Canales and the Panthers are looking to hold scrimmages with the Houston Texans and Steelers before exhibition action inside stadiums.
Dave Canales says Panthers have reached out to Texans and Steelers to gauge their interest in having a joint practice or two before Carolina plays each in the preseason.
Panthers and Browns already set for a joint practice in CLT.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) May 15, 2025
It’s unclear how receptive to the idea Pittsburgh is and how far those talks have gone. After going years without a joint practice, the Steelers held one last summer with the Buffalo Bills before their preseason tilt at Acrisure Stadium. It’d made sense for Pittsburgh to have interest in doing so again. Before 2024, the Steelers’ last joint practice came against the Detroit Lions in 2016.
Pittsburgh will face Carolina in Charlotte on Aug. 21, meaning a joint practice almost certainly wouldn’t happen at Acrisure Stadium. The majority if not entirety of the Steelers’ joint practice history has come in Latrobe or Pittsburgh so holding a joint practice away would be unusual. But the sessions allow coaches to put players in more specific situations rather than hoping they play out inside stadiums.
One logistical issue could be the fact that Pittsburgh holds its second preseason game on the Saturday before the Steelers-Panthers Thursday matchup. Pittsburgh may not want players to have such a rigorous turnaround of a game followed by a joint practice followed by another game in the span of one week. Although there’s no full contact periods in these team sessions, they’re generally more spirited and physical.
Joint practices have become more common in recent years due to the NFL cutting the number of preseason games from four to three. After the inevitable move to an 18-game regular season schedule, preseason action will be reduced to just a pair of games (the CBA precludes teams from playing more than 20 games in the preseason/regular season combined). That will encourage joint practices all the more.
There’s no word on when a joint practice between the Panthers and Steelers could be announced but if it happens, it likely won’t be known until the summer. Pittsburgh will report for training camp in late July and given that the team breaks camp in mid-August, the joint practice shouldn’t impact the team’s St. Vincent schedule.
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