When discussing how to balance Tampa Bay’s preseason snap counts on the Pewter Report Podcast, head coach Bruce Arians announced that the Bucs have tentatively planned joint practices with the Tennessee Titans prior to their preseason matchup.

“So much of that will depend on how practice goes,” Arians said. “If we get in and have good OTAs and a good mini-camp…  As training camp’s going on we’ve got a week set up with the Titans. Hopefully everything goes (well) so we can do that and we’ll just judge where everybody is at (and decide) how much they play in the preseason.”

Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

A playoff team in each of the past two seasons, head coach Mike Vrabel and quarterback Ryan Tannehill have built Tennessee into one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. After a top-10 finish in 2019, the Titans finished just behind the Bucs in 2020 with the fourth-most points scored league-wide. With the NFL’s schedule adding a 17th game at the expense of a fourth preseason game, joint practices could prove more important than ever moving forward.

While the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled Tampa Bay’s preseason and planned practices with the Jacksonville Jaguars last year, the Bucs are no stranger to joint practices. With the exception of 2020, this preseason will mark the fifth consecutive year in which Tampa Bay has practiced with one of their upcoming opponents.

The Bucs have previously held joint practices with the Dolphins in 2019, the Titans in 2018 and the Jaguars in 2016 and 2017.

The joint practices would be held the week before the Bucs and Titans meet on Aug. 21 at Raymond James Stadium.

You can watch the full Arians podcast below.