FOXBORO, Mass. — In a departure from the norm, the New England Patriots will hold not one, not two, but three rounds of joint practices during the 2017 NFL preseason.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick announced Wednesday morning New England will practice with the Detroit Lions in the week leading up to the teams’ exhibition matchup Aug. 25. New England previously had announced joint practices with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans, their first two preseason opponents.
The sessions with the Jaguars will be held at Gillette Stadium, while the Texans practices will take place in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., and Lions week will be at Detroit’s facility in Dearborn, Mich.
This is the sixth straight summer the Patriots will have joint practices but their first time linking up with more than two teams. New England hosted the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints in Foxboro last year.
The Patriots reported to training camp Wednesday and will hold their first practice Thursday morning.
UPDATE (11:09 a.m. ET): Ben Volin of The Boston Globe offered some additional information on Wednesday’s announcement, reporting the arrangement between Patriots and Lions will be slightly different from a typical joint practice setup.
Thumbnail photo via Stew Milne/USA TODAY Sports Images
