This didn't feel like a speculative conversation. It seemed like McAfee knows what's coming: televised joint practices and ONE preseason game. Full story: https://t.co/ApgMZ5W6Py pic.twitter.com/SWfEYYd8Ny

— Bring Me The Sports (@BMTNSports) October 6, 2026

‘Red Zone of joint practices’: Did Pat McAfee and Kevin O’Connell leak the NFL’s future preseason plan?

McAfee and O’Connell sounded like two guys who might have inside info on what’s coming to NFL preseasons in the future.

Preseason games are as meaningless as ever, with star players regularly sitting out to avoid injuries that could be catastrophic to their team’s regular season and playoff hopes. Could the future of the NFL include fewer preseason games and more joint practices made available to fans in person and on TV?

That’s the vibe Pat McAfee and Kevin O’Connell, the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, were giving off during what appeared to be an unexpected and perhaps unwelcome back-and-forth during O’Connell’s appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday.

It happened during the natural flow of conversation as McAfee wondered aloud about what Vikings training camp practices are like with O’Connell, a respected offensive mind, battling Brian Flores, the architect of the NFL’s most complex and dominant defense.

“The battles between you two all training camp, we should put that on TV,” McAfee said, sparking a conversation about what future preseasons could look like.

McAfee: Hey, okay, no, you’re in the middle of the season; I can’t ask about that. Joint practices are going to become the new training camp preseason games. Is that what it feels like? I don’t want to take you too far back in time, but it does feel like that’s probably what’s coming, right?

O’Connell: They’re super important, and we don’t play the Minnesota Vikings defense all season long, so for us to do nothing but play against them for a month, those joint practices have become very, very important. For both sides. Not to get too mired going against the same guys every single day, and to also not expose a lot of important players on your roster to those preseason games to get them ready. They’re really important when handled the right way. We’ve done a ton of them. I love them. Always really enjoy getting a chance to welcome people here, especially we’ve got a great place to host joint practices here in Minnesota.

McAfee: That’s going to become March Madness, I think. I think we’re going to do away with some of the preseason games. There will probably be one bubble preseason game at the end. And this is not the right time to be doing this; it’s just we’re in the middle of it, and you’re a good brain for the future of the NFL. Those joint practices are going to get televised, though. That’s going to become what it’s going to become. Like a Red Zone of joint practices. Get rid of the preseason games; have a bubble one at the end.

The NFL has already reduced the number of preseason games from four to three, but joint practices are where the Vikings get some of their most important work in before the regular season. In August, the Vikings hosted the Baltimore Ravens for two days of joint practices before ending the week with a preseason game that didn’t feature any of the marquee players.

Few fans are interested in tuning in for preseason games featuring only a handful of players who will actually make the 53-man roster or practice squad, but the appeal grows tremendously if fans get to watch stars like Justin Jefferson and Lamar Jackson during joint practices.

The NFL hasn’t said anything about replacing preseason games with joint practices, but McAfee clearly thinks that’s where the league is headed. And O’Connell, who nodded along as McAfee laid out his vision for the future of the preseason, didn’t exactly shoot down the idea.