Patriot players gather on the Lambeau Field turf in prayer following the injury to rookie defensive back Isaiah Bolden on Saturday night. (AP photo)

The New England Patriots return to the practice field on Tuesday in their familiar surroundings behind Gillette Stadium in Foxborough after a very traumatic experience late Saturday night.

How they’ll respond will be very interesting; the focus will likely still be on the harsh injury to rookie defensive back Isaiah Bolden in Saturday night’s preseason game vs. the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field that not only had all on the edge of despair but also completely altered the team’s schedule for the coming week.

“This is not the AFC championship,” team captain Matthew Slater said after the game against the Packers was halted with just over 10 minutes to go “We’re not playing for records. It’s preseason game two. When you have an injury like that, it affects a lot of guys in a lot of different ways. Clearly our team was shaken by what happened.”

But now the Patriots likely breathing a sigh of relief as Bolden was released from the hospital after undergoing tests and observation and reportedly flew home with the team.

“Appreciate the prayers more excited to be back with the guys,” a message from Bolden’s twitter account said Sunday monring.

The Patriots still felt they needed some recovery time, apparently, so the joint practices with Tennessee down south were cancelled and they’ll prepare for their Friday preseason finale in Nashville at home on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Hopefully, they’ll be able to get back to work. And build on what they did in the first three-plus quarters at Green Bay.

What did we see? We saw the regulars finally get some playing time, although quarterback Mac Jones was done after the first quarter, likely because the porous New England offensive line was having trouble protecting him. New England was missing Cole Strange and Michael Onwenu, and it showed. Younger players like rookie Sidy Sow didn’t seem to take advantage of their opportunity.

But Jones was solid, going 6 of 9 for 52 yards, and might have had more had DeVante Parker laid out for a long pass from his QB. But hey, it’s preaseason.

We saw Rhamondre Stevenson clearly look like the team’s best offensive player, as his 23-yard run from scrimmage showed, as well as his plowing into the end zone for the game’s first score following a Green Bay turnover. We didn’t see Ezekiel Elliott, but we know now he will definitely be a change of pace insurance policy for the player the Patriots highly value.

We saw receiver Kendrick Bourne look more like the player we saw to years ago, obviously more comfortable with the team’s offense under Bill O’Brien and taking things much more seriously than he did a year ago. Bourne (three catches, 34 yards) is in these eyes the team’s best receiver; we’ll see if head coach Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien agree.

We also so the speed potential on his touchdown reception off a slant play of another rookie, Kayshon Boutte. It will be interesting to see how the Patriots use him going forward, and if he makes the team or the practice squad. Speed is something New England needs on offense.

We saw New England give up more rushing yards than usual; that is something that has hurt them two out of the last three years and needs to stop so the defense doesn’t get gassed – especially in the warmer temps the first month of the season. The Packers ran for 119 yards but the Patriots first team unit allowed nearly 5 yards a carry.

We saw first round draft pick Christian Gonzalez look solid once again, as it does look overall like, on first impression, the Patriots had good draft four months ago. But that opinion takes a couple of years to become fact.

It’s not likely that we’ll see much if any of the regulars on Friday night in Nashville. Then New England has two weeks to get healthy and begin the long regular season grind. But first thing’s first as they need to mentally recover from Saturday night’s tough experience. Given how we saw the Patriots’ leadership take control (Belichick and Slater), and the good news we received on Sunday morning, and the rearranged schedule, New England’s players should be able to move forward.

And breathe.

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