Newcomers looking forward to first opener as Patriots

FOXBOROUGH – Both JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mike Gesicki have played at Gillette Stadium plenty of times, but always as members of the road team.

This Sunday, both Smith-Schuster and Gesicki will get a chance to run out of the tunnel for the opener on the right side of the cheers when the Pats host the Eagles at 4:25. It’ll also be ‘Tom Brady Day,’ which is sure to add an entirely different element of craziness to the atmosphere in and around Gillette.

On Monday following practice, both guys spoke at their lockers and revealed how excited they are to make their New England debut.

“I’ve played here as plenty of times, it’s an unbelievable atmosphere,” said Gesicki. “It’s going to be super cool to be on the right side of the crowd this time. So, I’m really looking forward to it. Gillette Stadium is definitely always rocking, so it’s going to be exciting.”

“Most definitely,” Smith-Schuster added when asked if he’s looking forward to his Patriots debut with Brady in the building. “This place is built on a championship foundation and I’m sure the crowd’s going to be rocking. In preseason they were, so I’m just excited. I really haven’t imagined (the moment of walking out as a Patriot for the first time), just kind of been focused on the day-to-day, and then when that time comes, yeah.”

Gesicki obviously hasn’t been here very long, but also acknowledged he’s seen the offense come together and he’s excited to see what this team can put out there once the games get going for real.

“I think that’s every team across the league. There’s been a lot of growth and development going all the way back to Day 1 of OTA’s,” he added. “It’s been cool to kind of see everyone develop and now we’ve got 18 weeks including the bye week to go out and put our best foot forward. The biggest thing is just take it day-by-day. Right now, we had a good day (Monday), and we’re ready to come back and do it again tomorrow.”