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Last summer, the Patriots made the trip to the Greenbrier in West Virginia to practice with the Saints during training camp.

The Saints will be the ones making the trip this summer. The teams announced Thursday that they will hold joint practices on August 9 and 10 at Patriots camp before the teams face off in their preseason opener on Thursday, August 11.

Saints coach Sean Payton also said earlier this week that he expects his team to practice with the Texans for a couple of days before they play an exhibition game later in the month. The Patriots, meanwhile, will work out with the Bears at their place before they play at Gillette Stadium on August 18.

Those schedules make it clear that both Payton and Patriots coach Bill Belichick find value in breaking up the monotony of training camp by sharing the field with other teams. They’re not alone in that belief and we’ll see several teams practicing with opponents this summer as they get ready for the 2016 season.