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The New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will open up joint practices this Tuesday morning with an 11:00 AM practice session. The practice was moved up due to weather. The two teams will face off in week two of the preseason Friday night. A few things we’ll be on the look-out for:
1. The Patriots offense, from all accounts, got the better of the Eagles for the majority of last week’s practice time. They followed that up with a solid showing in the preseason opener. Will the offense be able to stay sharp against a better defensive team in the Buccaneers.
2. For the second straight week, the Patriots figured to be challenged down the field while on defense. Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams make for a formidable receiving duo, and it will be interesting if the Patriots defensive backs, who struggled against DeSean Jackson and Riley Cooper, will be up to the task of slowing down the Bucs’ main targets.
3. These joint practices and the preseason game have another interesting layer – the teams play early in the regular season (week 3). I’ll be curious to see how that impacts this week’s session.
As always, feel free to discuss the day’s happenings here!