patriots preseason

In one of the more anticlimactic moments of the offseason, the NFL announced preseason opponents today, in the first small sign that the 2017 season is approaching faster than we realize. This summer the Patriots will face:

Patriots’ preseason schedule:

Wk 1 (Aug 10-14): vs. Jags
Wk 2 (Aug 17-21): at Texans
Wk 3 (Aug 24-27): at Lions
Wk 4 (8/31-9/1); vs. NYG

— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) April 10, 2017

The Patriots will play the Giants like they usually do in the final week of the preseason, but the other opponents leave a little bit to be desired. There’s already reports of the Patriots and Texans planning some joint practice sessions. Perhaps, with some old Patriots execs running things with the Lions now, the Pats will do the same with Detroit.

Bill Belichick & Bill O’Brien have been working on scheduling joint practices with Patriots-Texans at Greenbrier (WVa.) in Week 2/preseason.

— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) April 10, 2017

Usually in the preseason I like to see a variety of good quarterbacks. Facing one who can run is always good for preparation too. Unfortunately the quarterbacks of this preseason won’t give the Pats’ defense the kind of experience they’ve gotten the past couple seasons when they saw QBs like Drew Brees and Cam Newton.

Still there’s plenty of talent on the defensive side of the ball for the Jags and Texans and Matthew Stafford in Detroit should present some challenges.

But ultimately who they play in the preseason doesn’t matter all that much. It’s just a nice reminder in early April that August will soon be here.