FOXBORO -- When Brandon Lloyd walked away from New England's Week 1 win with five catches for 69 yards, nobody was looking to throw the guy a parade. He was, as the Patriots are so fond of saying, only doing his job. An expectation for success was born of his talent, catalyzed by Tom Brady's, and seemingly solidified each time the pair completed a downfield pass in training camp.
Which is why the preseason was underwhelming.
Lloyd caught one ball, for all of 12 yards, in two games. The Patriots first game of the 2012 season consequently seemed to roll up fast.
Did he and Brady get enough on-field reps together? How could they possibly have?
The quarterback's take, on the first Wednesday in September, was essentially a shrug and a smile.
"You dont know, but you have confidence that you can do it when it matters. Like I said, everything needs to be proven; its not like the predictions you make on Wednesday all come true. You go out and every play is designed to score a touchdown.
"It doesnt necessarily mean thats whats going to be the case in the case in the game, but if you put together enough good plays and not negative plays and penalties and turnovers and things that play into complementary football, and thats getting everybody involved, whether its Wes or the running backs or tight ends."
Or Lloyd.
Because he played for Josh McDaniels in Denver when the current Patriots offensive coordinator was the Broncos' head coach, it was understood Lloyd would have familiarity with certain concepts of New England's offense.
But he and Brady had to form a relationship all their own. And in light of the failed 2011 experiment that was Chad Ochocinco, there were no guarantees in place.
Both players had to accept 'not knowing' how, or if, it would come together. They had to submit to trust.
Actually, Lloyd calls it something else.
"I guess we should use the word faith. Because it's blind," he said, unleashing one of his booming, rolling laughs into the locker room. "That's pretty much what it is. We're trusting each other that we're prepared and we're seeing the same thing, we're in shape, we're capable, we're available. So you have to have faith that we're all doing our part, and when you go out there on Sunday it's going to come together.
"We're all here to win. The coaches aren't guessing -- they know what they're doing, they know what defenses to expect, we know what to expect; so when they call the play, I'm expecting that we're going to get the desired coverage and we're going to get a positive outcome."
When it does work? No, no parades quite yet. But it's certainly a start.
"It's exciting. Because it's like, this is just the beginning. And if we continue to have success then our confidence goes up, our timing works better it's just the beginning. We're trying to take it a day at a time."