Bengals to host Vikings for joint practices

The Cincinnati Bengals and Minnesota Vikings announced Thursday they'll hold two days of joint practices in August ahead of their preseason opener on Aug. 12.

The practices will be held at the Bengals' facilities near Paul Brown Stadium.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, who previously served as defensive coordinator under Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, facilitated the arrangement.

"I think the joint practices will be great for our young team, especially at that time of training camp," Zimmer said in the release announcing the practices. "Having such a great relationship with Marvin and the Bengals organization, it makes it a perfect fit for us to practice there."

Lewis added: "Our past experiences with joint practices have been good. You put yourself on the field with another team and let the competitive juices flow a little bit. And it's great that we could work this out with Zim."