East-West Shrine Bowl: How to watch the Patriots-coached all-star game on Thursday night

Feb 3, 2023 - 1:00 AM

The New England Patriots were able to get an up-close look at some of the best players in college football over the last few days: their staff is currently in Las Vegas, coaching one of the teams at the East-West Shrine Bowl.

Led by stand-in head coach Troy Brown, New England worked with the West team throughout the week. The East squad, meanwhile, is being coached by the Atlanta Falcons.

After four days worth of practice, the two teams will now get to square off against one another.

East-West Shrine Bowl 2023

Thursday, February 2, 8:30 p.m. ET | Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas NV | NFL Network | Patriots coaching staff | Offensive players to watch | Defensive, special teams players to watch

The Patriots have shown an affinity for drafting players from the Shrine Bowl as of late. Just last year, they picked four participants.

Wide receiver Tyquan Thornton (2-50), cornerback Jack Jones (4-121), running back Pierre Strong Jr. (4-127) and defensive lineman Sam Roberts (6-200) all played in the game. The same was true for a pair of UDFA signings in defensive tackle LaBryan Ray and quarterback D’Eriq King.

“We are incredibly excited to have the Patriots coaching the 2023 East-West Shrine Bowl,” said the game’s director of player personnel and football operations, Eric Galko in a statement in mid-January. “And they’ve had phenomenal success over the last 25 years finding special talent at the Shrine Bowl, from Tom Brady in 2000 to Tyquan Thornton and three others in last year’s draft.

“They’ll have an opportunity to coach, work with, and deeply learn about our future NFL players during the week, and they’ll greatly benefit from this access as they drive into their draft process.”

The Patriots got to work with the following players this week:

The Falcons, on the other hand, is working with the following group of players: