Patriots wide receiver Chris Hogan is returning to Buffalo for the first time since signing with New England.
Sunday’s matchup between the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills will be a homecoming of sorts for Chris Hogan.
The former Bills wide receiver will return to Orchard Park for the first time since he signed with the Patriots this past offseason. But, he insists that he will treat his return to Buffalo as just another game on the schedule. When asked if there was any added hype, he gave a very Patriots-like response.
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"“Nope, I’m going about this just like every other week,” Hogan said Wednesday via NESN. “It’s an away game. It’s a (divisional) game for us. It is going to be a big game. Just (with) the way the outcome of the previous game went, we’re just looking forward to getting up there and playing a solid four quarters of football.”"
If anything, Hogan will at least try to improve on his performance the first time around. In the Patriots 16-0 loss to the Bills at Gillette Stadium, Hogan had zero catches on two targets. He was also responsible for a very costly holding penalty. And he also comes off a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers where he fumbled. All in all, Hogan is just focused on helping his team.
"“I mean, it will be the first time on the other sideline up there (at New Era Field), but I’m not really focused on that,” Hogan said. “I’m just focused on just getting through this week, studying the game plan and just going up there as prepared as I can be so that I can play fast and not have to worry about all the outside stuff.”"
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The Patriots will have Tom Brady at quarterback this time around, but atmosphere and great crowd can still play a factor in how the team performs. As Hogan said, it will take a lot of focus and discipline to prevent losing twice to Rex Ryan and the Bills.