NFL's New England Patriots to practice on University of Arizona campus next week

The six-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots will be practicing in Tucson next week.

The Patriots play the Cardinals in Glendale on Monday. New England then is scheduled to face the Raiders in Las Vegas the following Sunday. Rather than return to the East Coast in between, the Patriots will head down Interstate 10 and practice at the University of Arizona.

The team’s exact schedule hasn’t been determined yet, but it's more likely than not that the Patriots would practice Wednesday through Friday. Those sessions will not be open to the public.

The Patriots are following the lead of the New York Giants, who used the Wildcats’ facilities last December between road games against the Dolphins and Rams.

Ties between the Patriots and Wildcats are plentiful.

Jedd Fisch worked for Patriots coach Bill Belichick before taking the UA job in December 2020. Fisch served as New England’s quarterbacks coach for most of the ’20 season.

One of Fisch’s most notable hires was Tedy Bruschi, the former UA All-American who spent his entire professional career with the Patriots. Bruschi serves as a senior advisor to Fisch.

Bruschi’s counterpart as honorary coach in the 2021 UA spring game was Rob Gronkowski. Arizona’s all-time greatest tight end made first-team All-Pro four times and won three Super Bowls with the Patriots from 2010-18.

Two current Patriots played at Arizona.

One is veteran placekicker Nick Folk, who’s in his fourth season in New England and his 15th in the NFL. Folk is tied for the league lead with 25 made field goals.

The other is running back J.J. Taylor, who’s on the Patriots’ practice squad. Taylor has appeared in 12 games for New England over the past three seasons, rushing for 156 yards and two touchdowns.

The Patriots are 6-6 heading into Monday's game. They sit one game behind the New York Jets for the seventh playoff spot in the AFC.

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CY to East-West Shrine Bowl

UA safety Christian Young has accepted an invitation to participate in the East-West Shrine Bowl.

Young started every game the past two seasons and 32 in all during his UA career. He played multiple positions, including safety, “Viper” (a safety-linebacker hybrid role) and cornerback.

Young compiled 182 tackles, including nine for losses, in 48 games. He also had 11 passes defensed, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles.

Young is listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 225 pounds, offering a combination of size and speed that should be appealing to NFL teams.

The East-West Shrine Bowl is slated for Feb. 2 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

While Young has exhausted his eligibility, Arizona is awaiting decisions from a handful of other players who could declare for the draft, return to Arizona or enter the NCAA transfer portal.

The three most prominent players are tailback Michael Wiley, tackle Jordan Morgan and cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace. The deadline to declare for the draft is Jan. 16.

Extra points

• Receiver Tetairoa McMillan and guard Jonah Savaiinaea earned spots on 247Sports.com's True Freshman All-American Team. McMillan ended his first season at Arizona tied for the Pac-12 lead with eight touchdown receptions. Savaiinaea started every game at right guard. The two have been named to multiple Freshman All-American squads.
• Offensive lineman Shontrail Key became the 16th UA scholarship player to put his name in the transfer portal since the start of the 2022 season. Key came to Arizona as a defensive lineman in ’21 before switching to the other side of the ball. He did not appear in a game as a Wildcat.
• Since entering the portal, All-Pac-12 second-team receiver Dorian Singer has received at least 11 offers. They include four from conference schools: Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon and Utah.