The New England Patriots are in the midst of their first home game of the 2024 season as they welcome the Seattle Seahawks to Gillette Stadium in Week 2. It's a day spent celebrating the tenth anniversary of their memorable win in Super Bowl XLIX that began with Malcolm Butler being the Keeper of the Light to get fans excited for kickoff.
Plenty of other Patriots players from that team were in the house, as well, with Patrick Chung leading the entire stadium in cheers.
Super Bowl XLIX hero & @GilletteStadium Keeper of the Light, @Mac_BZ 😤 pic.twitter.com/70N7jgOAUt
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 15, 2024
To make the day feel even more special, Patriots fans filled the stadium far more than anyone anticipated, considering the projections for how their season would fare. A narrative began that the seats would be primarily empty after seeing how bare the stadium was during the preseason. But given the circumstances, fans showed up well on Sunday.
Come game time, they made their presence known by getting loud and early on, they had a lot to cheer for.
Rookie receiver Ja'Lynn Polk got the first touchdown of the game and the first of his young NFL career.
FIRST @NFL TOUCHDOWN JA'LYNN POLK!!!!!@jpolk_22 | @JBrissett12 pic.twitter.com/loEvUOB7H9
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 15, 2024
After a nearly invisible season opener against the Bengals, it's good to see Polk more involved this week already. Fellow rookie Javon Baker is active for this game, too, after being a healthy scratch for unknown reasons last Sunday.
He is yet to get involved in the matchup, same as DeMario Douglas, who has been essentially nonexistent so far this season. Hopefully, that will change soon because he's too good to not be part of the Patriots game plan.