Dan Koppen will likely be in the starting lineup when New England plays Denver at Gillette Stadium Sunday. You can look for him smack dab in the middle of the offensive line.
The Broncos offensive line.
It could be a strange sight for long-time Patriots fans. Koppen's NFL career was born via a 2003 New England draft selection, and he played with the team for nine seasons. He was released during final cuts this August.
Bill Belichick didn't eulogize Koppen's time with the Patriots on his Tuesday conference call. Business is business, the coach said.
"We kind of go through this every week, see players on other teams -- Ravens safety James Ihedigbo, Bills defensive lineman Mark Anderson, whoever it is -- there's players on other teams that have played for us," he noted of New England's last two opponents.
"It's a little bit unusual . . . It is but it isn't; we haven't seen Dan Koppen in another uniform, but you see plenty of other players in similar situations where that happened. That's the way it is in the NFL -- you can find it on every team throughout the league."