Patriots to be featured on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ this year, sort of

Get your popcorn ready, the New England Patriots will be on HBO’s Hard Knocks! Well, at least in a minor role they will be.

As was announced on Monday, after all, this year’s in-season edition of the show will feature the Arizona Cardinals. The NFC West team will open its doors for a look behind the scenes, including ahead of its December matchup with the Patriots: New England will visit Arizona for a Monday night game in Week 14.

That position is actually not a new one for the Patriots. They were already part of last year’s in-season Hard Knocks that featured the Indianapolis Colts. The two teams met in Week 15, a game that was lost by New England with a final score of 27-17.

The in-season version of Hard Knocks was introduced last year, with the Cardinals becoming the second team featured. The traditional training camp edition will follow the Detroit Lions this summer.