Jets-Packers joint practices will serve as a reunion for LaFleurs, Robert Saleh

When the Jets travel to Green Bay to partake in joint practices with the Packers, it will mark a reunion between members of both coaching staffs.

The Jets will conduct a pair of joint practices with the Packers on Aug. 18 and Aug. 19 ahead of their preseason game on  Aug. 21. With Robert Saleh and Mike LaFleur joining the Jets this offseason, New York now has strong ties to the Packers’ coaching staff.

Saleh and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur worked and lived together while starting out as young coaches at Central Michigan in 2004. Saleh worked as a defensive assistant in his lone year at Central Michigan, while Matt LaFleur worked as a graduate assistant. The two also coached against each other in the NFC West in 2017 when Matt LaFleur was the Rams’ offensive coordinator.

The relationship between Mike and Matt LaFleur goes far beyond football, as Mike is Matt’s younger brother. The two have teamed up in the Xs and Os department before. Matt was Atlanta’s quarterbacks coach with the Falcons from 2015-16 and Mike worked as an offensive assistant with the Falcons over that same span.

Matt LaFleur and Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich also shared the same building in Atlanta for two years, with Ulbrich working as linebackers coach under Dan Quinn.

While the familiarity between the Jets and Packers’ coaching staffs adds intrigue to New York’s first joint practice session since 2018, there will also be plenty of other juicy storylines at play come mid-August. Aaron Rodgers’ future in Green Bay is up in the air and it remains to be seen if he will still be with the organization by the time the Jets roll into town.

There is also the question of where Zach Wilson will be at in his development at that point in the offseason and how he will fare against a Packers defense that fell just short of making the Super Bowl last season.

Joint practices can sometimes get testy, but they usually prove to be beneficial ahead of the regular season. Teams can only make so much progress in practice going up against their own personnel, as many players hold back a little bit in order to avoid inflicting injury on a teammate. That is not the case in a joint practice, as it is competition as usual.

The Jets need all the work they can get before the Saleh era kicks off against the Panthers in Week 1, making their practice dates with the Packers an important part of their summer program. Those practices serving as a reunion of sorts is just an added bonus.