INDIANAPOLIS – The Bears and Broncos are eyeing joint practices in August in Denver, Ryan Pace and Vic Fangio confirmed Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine.

Fangio, who was the Bears defensive coordinator for four seasons before he became Broncos coach in 2019, said the sessions against the Bears aren’t official yet because the NFL preseason schedule still needs to be set. But he seemed optimistic the practices would happen. The NFL preseason schedule typically is announced in early April.

Fangio estimated he has done about 40 joint practices in his career and said he is a fan of them. He said he convinced Bears coach Matt Nagy to try them in 2018. The Broncos hosted joint practices with the Bears on a Wednesday and Thursday before they played a preseason game at Empower Field at Mile High on a Saturday in 2018.

“(Nagy) had never been around one, and I talked him into doing it,” Fangio said. “We came out and worked against the Broncos, and he loved it. He wanted to do it last year, but we couldn’t get it.”

The Bears didn’t do joint practices in 2019. But Nagy, who severely has limited his starters’ preseason game action over his first two seasons, held a night intrasquad scrimmage at Halas Hall instead to simulate a game setting for his players.

These practices would have a similar purpose — to be competitive while also trying to limit injuries — and Pace sees value in that.

“It’s a controlled environment against another team, it breaks up the monotony of camp and it allows us to evaluate another roster too,” the Bears general manager said. “But the biggest thing is just you’re able to have physical practices but a little more controlled than a preseason game would be.”

Before the Bears team up with the Broncos, they will open training camp at a new location for the first time in 18 years.

After completing a major Halas Hall expansion project, the Bears announced in January that they would move training camp from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais to their team headquarters in Lake Forest.

Speaking for the first time since the announcement, Pace indicated the move was about what’s best for his players’ health.

“It’s such a taxing time on our players’ bodies,” Pace said. “To be there (at the new facility) with all those valuable resources is huge. We respect ONU and Bourbonnais and everything we had there and the history there, but I think coming back for us is really going to benefit our players just for a recovery standpoint and preparation standpoint.”