The New Orleans Saints revealed today they will not hold any joint preseason practices with the Houston Texans, but instead, will hold joint practices with the New England Patriots.

New Orleans is scheduled to play host to the Texans in week 3 of the preseason, after hosting the Patriots in week 2.

It was previously reported from multiple outlets than the Saints would hold joint preseason practices with the Texans prior to their preseason matchup. That is no longer the plan.

Rather than hold joint practices with Houston, the Patriots will travel to the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia where the Saints hold training camp, as the two clubs will hold three days of joint practices before meeting up in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on August 22nd.

"It was really more about our schedule here," said Saints head coach Sean Payton of the change. "We also recognize the fact that they're going to be featured on Hard Knocks, but it was more about our team and what's best for us."

Hard Knocks is an HBO documentary series that follows one team throughout training camp and the preseason. The Texans were selected as this year's team yesterday.

It marks the third time in six years the Saints and Patriots will practice against one another during the preseason.

"It can pick up the focus and attention to detail," said Payton of the benefit of holding joint practices. "Typically, in our experience, when we've had practices with New England...we've done a really good job of focusing on certain periods and it gives you a different look...certainly for us they're one of those teams that has been at the top each year competing for a championship."

The Saints report to training camp at the Greenbrier on July 29th.

More From 103.3 The GOAT