Patriots get to play football instead of talk about them

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady speaks to members of the media in the locker rook at Gillette Stadium prior to the team's practice in Foxborough, Mass, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2015. (Keith Bedford/The Boston Globe via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT NO SALES, MAGS OUT, INTERNET OUT, ARCHIVE OUT BOSTON HERALD OUT, QUINCY OUT New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady speaks to members of the media in the locker rook at Gillette Stadium prior to the team's practice in Foxborough, Mass, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2015. (Keith Bedford/The Boston Globe via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT NO SALES, MAGS OUT, INTERNET OUT, ARCHIVE OUT BOSTON HERALD OUT, QUINCY OUT

By Associated Press September 9, 2015 4 min read

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – The New England Patriots’ fourth Super Bowl banner will be unveiled at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night.

The fans will have their first chance to shower quarterback Tom Brady with adulation since a federal judge vacated the four-game suspension he was handed in the NFL’s botched “Deflategate” investigation.

Oh, yeah, they’ll play an actual football game, too.

Seven months after claiming the franchise’s fourth NFL title, the Patriots return to the field for the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the league’s annual kickoff game. Even for a team that’s made its reputation on avoiding distractions, the competition will provide a welcome relief from a summer of talk about deflated footballs and the ideal gas law.

“It’s time for me to do my job,” Brady said this week when he spoke to reporters for the first time since the news conference for his third Super Bowl MVP award.