Chicago Bears set to host joint practices with Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills during preseason

The Bears will get a couple of chances to practice against players other than their teammates this training camp. They will hold a couple set of joint practices with the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills before their preseason games in August.

The team announced Thursday that the Dolphins will come to Soldier Field for a preseason opener on Aug. 10 at noon. The date and time for the preseason’s first game wasn’t announced when the Bears announced their schedule last week.

Miami will likely travel into town a few days before the game where the two teams will practice against each other at Halas Hall. Buffalo will likely follow the same pattern before the two teams play against each other at Soldier Field on Aug. 17. The Bears will also have a chance to be on HBO Max’s “Hard Knocks” for a second straight year since the show is following the Bills this year.

The number of joint practices and dates haven’t been announced yet. The Bears will finish the preseason when they travel to Kansas City to play the Chiefs on Aug. 22.

New Bears head coach Ben Johnson hinted that the Bears would like to host two joint practices when he took over. Players and coaches value practicing against other teams, sometimes taking more from the practices than the preseason games.

Joint practices have recently become a trend in the NFL during training camp. The Bears hosted the Dolphins at Halas Hall for a couple practices in 2021. In 2023, they traveled to practice with the Indianapolis Colts and hosted the Cincinnati Bengals last season.