The New England Patriots have skipped town for warmer weather.
After Sunday’s 26-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, the Patriots just kept on going, flying to Southern California to spend the week in San Diego ahead of next Sunday’s game against the Chargers.
[tweet https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/539022575226343424 align=’center’]
Judging by the Twitter account of Patriots wide receiver Brandon LaFell, the team arrived early Monday morning.
[tweet https://twitter.com/Blafell1/status/539329071856234496 align=’center’]
The Patriots will practice at UC San Diego in La Jolla, Calif., according to the university. The trip will allow the team to get “acclimated” to San Diego’s warmer weather and spare it from having to take the dreaded West Coast travel day later in the week. Defensive tackle Sealver Siliga certainly isn’t complaining.
[tweet https://twitter.com/S_Siliga/status/539538572639240192 align=’center’]
A week in the sun could provide many distractions, but New England’s captains insist they’re focused on the task at hand.
“It’s an opportunity for us to clear our minds, spend a lot of time together and just focus on the task at hand of playing the Chargers this week,” special teamer Matthew Slater told reporters in a conference call Monday. “…We’re all professionals. We understand what we have to do, and we’re going to do it.”
Offensive lineman Dan Connolly echoed Slater’s sentiments, adding that spending 10 days together could act as a valuable team-building experience.
“Yeah, sure. There’s definitely a feeling of training camp where we’re all together,” Connolly said. “But it’s important for us to not be distracted by nice weather and things that are going on out here and realize that we have a job to do this week.”
