Football-sized butterflies.
When he awakens at the team hotel in Tennessee on Sunday, his 38th NFL opening day still hours away, Bill Belichick expects to have them.
?I?d say opening kickoff is usually when it ends,? the Patriots head coach said earlier this week. ?It?s just the buildup to it.?
Although it may lack the romanticism of baseball?s opening day, which signals that summer is on its way, football?s opening day is special in its own way.
Gone is the drudgery of training camp and the preseason games when ? no offense meant to their families and friends ? the Jeremy Eberts and the Jesse Holleys, the Marcus Harrisons and the Jeff Tarpinians of the NFL world get to play extensively.
?This is what every player plays for,? said Patriots defensive end Trevor Scott. ?Every sack, every run block, every touchdown made, everything counts. It?s one step closer to getting where you want to go and that?s the Super Bowl.?
Patriots wide receiver and special teams standout Matt Slater likens the day to another late-summer ritual.
?It?s kind of like that first day of school,? said Slater. ?There?s excitement in the air. Everybody?s zero-and-zero and dreaming of going to a Super Bowl, so I think there may be a little bit more nerves than usual.?
That has been the prevailing sentiment in the Patriots? locker room as Sunday?s regular-season opener with the Titans at LP Field in Nashville draws near.
?Super excited? is how tight end Rob Gronkowski anticipated his emotions would be come at 1 Sunday afternoon.
?Basically (I?m) nervous every single game,? said Gronkowski, ?but especially the season opener.?
The other half of the Patriots? record-setting tight-end tandem agreed.
?Every year you?re just as excited,? Aaron Hernandez said. ?The people who really love the game ? I love the game ? and a lot of us here, it?s what we live for. If you?re not excited, then obviously you shouldn?t be here.?
Often dismissive in his responses to questions he?s posed in the Patriots locker room, veteran wide receiver Brandon Lloyd warmed up a bit when the topic of opening day was broached.
?You still get pretty jacked up and it?s a great feeling,? he said. ?It?s the opening day feeling. It only happens to me twice in a year ? it?s the first game away and it?s the first home game. Those are pretty exciting.?
Like Lloyd an NFL veteran who?s in his first season in New England, safety Steve Gregory seconded the motion, but also agreed with Belichick?s notion that it all passes.
?There?s always that excitement,? said Gregory. ?We?re excited to go out there and play, get ready, get started. Some guys get nervous or not nervous, but once that ball?s kicked off, you get that first hit in, all that goes away and now you?re just playing football.?
Still, it is a day like no other on the NFL schedule.
?It?s grind time,? defensive lineman Vince Wilfork said.
?It?s for real,? said Gronkowski. ?It?s go time.?
Injury report: Running back Shane Vereen (foot) has been ruled out of Sunday?s game.
Cornerback Alfonzo Dennard (hamstring), tight end Daniel Fells (shin), offensive lineman Nick McDonald (shoulder), cornerback Sterling Moore (knee) and offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer (back) are all questionable.
Safety Patrick Chung (shoulder) is questionable.
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