FOXBORO -- It was almost exactly one year to the day. That's how long Derek Rivers had to wait between games.
They were NFL preseason games, but for him, that was close enough to the real thing. Under the lights. On the Gillette Stadium turf. It didn't matter that the outcomes didn't matter. He was just happy to be back. And not just back, but starting.
"It was a blessing," he said after the Patriots beat the Redskins on Thursday night. "It's a surreal moment."
Rivers tore his ACL last summer during a practice against the Texans at The Greenbrier, twisting awkwardly in a kick-return period and crumpling to the turf.