Every player has the season-opener circled on their calendar. But Brandon Copeland had the Jets' Monday Night Football matchup against the Lions on his mind for slightly more personal reasons.
Copeland spent the last three years in Detroit, grinding away as a special-teams guy. He missed all of last season with a pectoral muscle tear.
Finally getting back on the field - this time as a key contributor on defense - and doing it at his old home was his driving force throughout the offseason.
So after seeing that dream realized, Copeland has to be riding high .