Mac Jones and the Patriots offense will start the 2023 season against a top-tier defense when the Philadelphia Eagles visit New England on Sunday.

As the reigning NFC champions, the Eagles put together put together quite the campaign a season ago, especially on the defensive side. Philadelphia tallied 70.0 sacks during the 2022 season, the third-most by a team in a single season in NFL history.

Philadelphia dominates with a physical front seven with the likes of Haasan Reddick, Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham among others that can get to the quarterback. Giving Jones a clean pocket to throw will be paramount to New England’s chances in its first game of the season.

“As you guys saw all of last year in training camp, they’ve done a great job,” Jones said on WEEI’s “Jones and Mego” show on Tuesday. “They drafted really well at that position. They take a lot of pride into that. They have the best defensive line in the NFL. At the end of the day, we just have to go out there and compete, control what we can control and understand we’re going against a bunch of beasts.”

The Eagles and Patriots start their respective 2023 schedules on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS.