FOXBOROUGH, Mass.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are spending a few days in New England as guests of the Patriots for a few joint practices.

Facing the defending Super Bowl champions can give the Jaguars a good idea of what needs work. Jacksonville finished 3-13 last season, in last place in the AFC South, with a better regular season record than only Cleveland at 1-15 and San Francisco at 2-14.

The Jaguars have not been to the playoffs since they lost to the host Patriots in the divisional round of the 2007-08 season. They haven’t had a winning season since then. Meanwhile, the Patriots have been to the Super Bowl four times since, coming away with two championships.

“I think it gives us a good feel for where we are,” said Doug Marrone, who is entering his first full season as Jacksonville’s head coach after taking over on an interim basis for the final two games last season. “Obviously they are a great team and we have a lot of respect for both the coaches and the players.

“There are so many positives coming to work with another team. I felt like we got a great day done today. We have to go ahead and look at the tape and be able to improve. I think when you practice like this, obviously against a great football team, then it is going to make our team better. That really was the goal coming up here.”

The Patriots have conducted joint practices for six straight seasons, but never with Buffalo, where Marrone was the head coach in 2013-14, before joining Jacksonville as an assistant.