Bengals announce dates for joint practices with Giants

The Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants will hold a joint practice this year, the team announced Friday.

The two teams will practice on August 11-12, just ahead of their preseason matchup on August 14. This will also be both team's first preseason game of the year. The joint practices will be held on the PBS practice fields and will be open to the public, as part of the Bengals’ 2015 Training Camp.

Joint practices are becoming more and more common in the NFL, and the Bengals are no strangers to them. Back in 2013, the Bengals held a joint practice with the Falcons in Atlanta before their preseason opener. Last year, the Bengals and Jets tried to work out a joint practice, but it fell through.

With the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement limiting how often teams can practice and how physically they can be, teams are relying more on joint practices to increase the intensity and offer more of a game-like feel to them. Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis is a fan of joint practices, as he believes they offer up a chance for players after a long training camp of practicing against each other:

"It’s great that we were able to make this work with Coach (Tom) Coughlin and the Giants," said Lewis via a press release. "It’s not something we’ve been able to do every year with another team, but our past experience with it has been good. It helps our guys stay sharp and focused as we move through the preseason. You put yourself on the field with another team and let the competitive juices flow a little bit."

Jeremy Hill is likely happy about this joint practice as his good friend and college teammate, Odell Beckham Jr. plays for the Giants.

Our Life A Completed Checklist #royalways @iam_objxiii @royal_xiv

A photo posted by Jeremy Hill (@jeremyhill) on Jan 31, 2015 at 4:17pm PST

Timing and other details regarding the practices with the Giants are yet to be finalized.