Coronavirus

‘Strange Times': Fans Get Ready for Patriots Home Opener Unlike Any Other

No fans are allowed through at least the end of September due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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The Patriots home opener is officially a week away, but instead of the typical tailgating and parties, the parking lot will be empty, and the stands will be desolate. 

“Strange times. It’s like being in the twilight zone, like the world stopped,” said Pats season ticket holder Scott Brodsky, who will miss the opener for the first time. 

New England kicks off their season at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 13 at 1 p.m. against the Miami Dolphins.

No fans are allowed through at least the end of September due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Fans say summer and fall are blurring together: 

“I saw Edelman post on Instagram. I didn’t realize the first game is so soon, I just feel like we’re in this never ending stretch of gray area,” said fan Madison Marshall. 

“It felt like fantasy football with the drafts coming up, and it didn’t feel like the football season was starting, people were asking for draft days and you didn’t realize it was starting next week,” said another fan, Noah Sholes. 

One thing fans are looking forward to is how new starting quarterback Cam Newton will do out on the field. 

For the first time in years, there’s no Tom Brady. 

Fans say the home opener will be an interesting one for sure. 

“It will be interesting to see if people show up here to just to go to the stadium and sit around the stadium,” Sholes said. 

If fans are allowed inside Gillette Stadium, it will only be 20% of Gillette’s total capacity, the team announced Tuesday. That’s about 13,000 people.
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