The Patriots will have an opportunity to take on a pair of former employees this preseason.
The NFL's exhibition schedule was released on Monday night, and it was announced that the Patriots will host the Jaguars before hitting the road to take on the Texans and Lions. Then, in keeping with their tradition of the last dozen years, the Patriots and Giants will meet up for the preseason finale, which will be played at Gillette Stadium.
The dates and times of the games have not yet been determined.
Per ESPN's Mike Reiss, the Patriots and Texans are already in the process of working out a joint-practice schedule for the second week of the preseason. The Patriots will finish that week by returning to NRG Stadium, the site of their Super Bowl LI comeback victory, to take on former offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien.
In Week 3 of the preseason, Belichick and his team will have an opportunity to take on former Patriots director of pro scouting Bob Quinn, now the general manager in Detroit.
The NFL's regular-season schedule will be released later this spring. The regular-season slate of Patriots opponents has already been announced.