The Giants and Jets could follow up their rare trade this spring by bringing another form of cooperation out of extinction.
The two teams are likely to finalize a plan to hold a joint practice during the week leading up to their Aug. 28 preseason game, a source confirmed to The Post. Indications are it will be held at Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford — home of the Giants and across the parking lot from where the game will be played at MetLife Stadium.
It will be the first joint practice between the local rivals since 2005, when the players fought and the coaches argued.
Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey and Jets defensive backs Erik Coleman and Oliver Celestin exchanged punches on the second play of the first drill and set the tone for a melee-filled practice. An angry Giants coach Tom Coughlin yelled at Jets players and defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson for going beyond the agreed-upon rules for the physicality of a safe practice.
“That’s the way we practice, Coach,” Henderson fired back. “We put our hats on people.”
Jets and Giants player scuffled during a 2005 joint practice APCoughlin later said, “We don’t want that. That’s not what we teach. That’s not why we’re here.”
If 2005 sounds like a long time ago, consider that the Giants and Jets made their first trade since 1983 on April 29. The Giants sent pick No. 36 in the 2022 NFL Draft to the Jets for picks No. 38 and No. 146. After the Giants made another trade, it amounted to running back Breece Hall for wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, safety Dane Belton, and linebacker Micah McFadden.
The Jets played the Giants in a preseason game last summer at MetLife on Aug. 14, 2021 AP
The Jets and Giants will face one another this summer in an Aug. 28 preseason game APThe biggest trade between the teams happened in 2019, when the Giants acquired defensive lineman Leonard Williams for two draft picks.
The Giants originally were supposed to host the Patriots this summer as a return from their trip last year’s summer to New England. But that practice plan got scrapped after head coach Joe Judge’s was fired and returned to the Patriots as a potential offensive play-caller.
The Giants and Patriots still will open the preseason schedule Aug. 11 in Foxborough, Mass. The Bengals will visit MetLife Stadium on Aug. 21, and those teams held joint practices in 2015. ESPN first reported the likelihood of a Jets-Giants practice.
The Jets and Eagles held two joint practices in Florham Park last summer.
