For the next three days, the New England Patriots and the Detroit Lions will be sparring partners: from Monday through Wednesday, the two clubs will hold joint practices together in Detroit. For both clubs, this means a break of routine roughly two weeks into training camp — one that certainly appears to be welcome when listening to members of the Patriots speak about the opportunity to go against another team.
“Regardless of if it’s with someone else or us, we’re still going to practice and compete,” said team captain and veteran starting safety Patrick Chung — a player that has taken part in numerous such joint sessions in the past — when talking about the upcoming meetings with the Lions.