A trend that seems to be sweeping the NFL is having teams face off against each other in joint training camps, giving players earlier access to other NFL talent. While they do face talent while going up against teammates in minicamp, going against a different team is a whole different animal.

One of the more supportive coaches of this matter is Green Bay’s head coach Matt LaFleur, who is going into his first season at the helm in Titletown. As a first-time head coach, it is very important for the team to get into game shape early on, as adapting to all of LaFleur’s schemes are going to take time.

LaFleur is much different in his schematic elements compared to former coach Mike McCarthy, which is good and bad in theory.

Good, because it provides the team with a fresh sense of how a team can be run as well as helps the team to iron out its kinks. Bad, because the team has to learn a completely different set of offensive outlooks, which will help the franchise adapt to the up-to-date league play, but overall can be a lot of challenges to overcome for an entire franchise.

These minicamps are challenging in their own sense, as any fan can see from watching previous seasons of Hard Knocks. Teams like the Houston Texans and the Washington Redskins have been featured on this series, and the dual minicamps have led to many different scuffles and issues that have ultimately trickled into the season and have acted as deterrents for teams.

LaFleur will need to develop and carry out an effective leadership plan for the team, especially early on. Through effective communication techniques and two-way channels with players and the coaching staff, LaFleur will need to get the respect of the team fast.

These dual minicamps can absolutely help a team, as rookies and players fighting for roster spots can show out when put into different situations, more challenging ones that occur when going up against other teams. When facing your own team, to try and eliminate injury scares players will not go 100% every time, which does not fully provide teams with an accurate look into what each and every player brings to the table.

Matching up with certain teams are better than others, as teams like the Cincinnati Bengals, Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills seem to have many more internal issues going on and would dominate the conversation instead of the play on the field. More conservative teams would make this kind of situation much more palatable in the long run.

Facing off against a team like the San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos or the San Diego Chargers would all be good fits and act as great tune-up opportunities for the team before going into the preseason docket.

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Mike Johrendt has been an avid fan of the Packers ever since he can remember. He is now a writer at PackersTalk and you can follow him on Twitter at @MJohrendt23

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