Preseason: New England Patriots schedule

Sporting Alert – The full New England Patriots schedule for the 2015 NFL preseason.

Ahead of the Week 3 fixture against the Carolina Panthers on Friday night, Aug. 28, here is a look at the Patriots schedule for the warmups.

New England opened its exhibitions with a 22-11 defeat to the Green Bay Packers, in a game where they tallied just 211 yards at an average of 3.6 yards per play.

They bounced back, however, on the road with a 26-24 victory against the New Orleans Saints to head into the final two preseason games with a 1-1 record.

The champs were 2-2 in friendlies last season.

After Friday’s game against the Panthers on the road, the Patriots will complete their preseason fixtures at home against the New York Giants on Thursday, Sep. 3.

So after two warmup games, New England has been outscored 46-37, while giving up 834 total yards – something the defense will be hoping to work on during the final two exhibitions.

Also thus far in the exhibitions, backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is 48-of-63 for 428 yards with two interceptions.

With Tom Brady set to miss the opening games of the regular season because of the ongoing saga involving the deflated NFL footballs, the Patriots will continue to use Garoppolo as much as possible in preseason, as he’s expected to be the starter.

Meanwhile, ahead of the start of the new season, the club announced the release of four players.

Veteran DT Antonio Johnson, OT Mark Asper and LB Cameron Gordon have all been waived, the Patriots said on its official website.

The club also announced the release of rookie Jimmy Jean, who could have played both safety and cornerback.

New England Patriots will start the defense of their championships title on Thursday, Sept. 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers at 8:30 PM ET, live on NBC.

The last time they face the Steelers in the regular season was during the 2013 campaign where they came away with a 55-31 victory at home.

Brady, on that day, threw for 432 yards and had four touchdown tosses in the victory.

Preseason 2015: New England Patriots schedule

WK1 Thu, Aug 13 vs Green Bay L22-11
WK2 Sat, Aug 22 @ New Orleans W26-24
WK3 Fri, Aug 28 @ Carolina 7:30 PM
WK4 Thu, Sep 3 vs New York 7:30 PM