Patriots lock in 13 public practices for 2026 training camp

The New England Patriots have finalized the dates and start times for 13 practices open to the public during their 2026 training camp at Gillette Stadium. The team says the schedule is now “locked in,” giving fans a clear calendar for the first on-field look at the 2026 roster as the season approaches.

Veteran players are scheduled to report on Friday, July 24. The first public practice will be on Saturday, July 25, with the Patriots listing an 10:30 a.m. start. The team also states that all outdoor practices open to the public will be held on the upper grass fields behind Gillette Stadium, keeping the viewing setup consistent across the camp window.

Each practice is designed to be fan-accessible, with the Patriots emphasizing free parking and free access to public sessions. The team also notes that gates will open at 9:15 a.m. for each day, roughly an hour before most start times, and that practices generally run for about two hours. Start times are expected to vary by day, so attendees are directed to the Patriots training camp website and the Patriots and Gillette Stadium apps for the most up-to-date information.

Beyond the standalone public practices, New England’s camp will include three joint practice sessions that also shape which days will draw the most attention from out-of-town fans. The first joint work is scheduled against the Indianapolis Colts, set for Tuesday, Aug. 11, with the teams’ preseason meeting following on Thursday, Aug. 13. The Colts week matters because joint practices often serve as the most structured reps both staffs get against another game-planning opponent.

The following week, the Patriots will host two days of joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles on Wednesday, Aug. 19 and Thursday, Aug. 20. According to the Patriots, the Aug. 20 joint practice will also be the final public practice of the season, meaning the last day of open camp viewing lines up with the end of that high-intensity stretch.

The Patriots’ announcement also frames this camp as a long-running institutional routine, calling out it as their 67th annual training camp and their 24th consecutive camp at Gillette Stadium. That continuity is more than ceremonial, as it affects logistics for fans, local traffic planning, and how consistently the team can stage camp within the same venue and environment.

As always with offseason schedules, the Patriots caution that practice times and dates remain subject to change. The practical takeaway for supporters is to treat the published calendar as the baseline plan while monitoring the team’s training camp updates as the summer progresses, particularly around the joint practice dates that can have ripple effects across preseason preparation.

In the bigger picture, a finalized public-camp schedule is the first major “anchor” document for the Patriots’ summer. It sets expectations for when key player-group work will be visible, and it also provides a timeline for how the coaching staff can evaluate and refine execution before preseason games begin.

When the first practices open on July 25, attention will likely turn to how quickly the team settles into new-season habits on both sides of the ball, and how the coaching staff parcels out reps across positions before the joint practice stretch. The next checkpoint is the first day of public viewing, followed by the Aug. 11 Colts joint session and the final public practice on Aug. 20 against the Eagles.