Chris Hogan is stoked and ready to roll in his first Patriots season

It's a whole lot easier to focus on doing your job when you know that you actually have a job, and wideout Chris Hogan told the Providence Journal yesterday that his Labor Day weekend was a lot more relaxing when you don't have to worry about getting cut (again).

After getting cut earlier in his career by San Francisco, Miami, and the New York Giants, this weekend may be the first time in Hogan's career where he's actually been able to chill instead of hoping he still had a roster spot on Sunday.

"I slept last night.  I couldn't say that for four years.  I usually don't sleep and I usually just kind of stare at my phone. But this is a tough day for a lot of guys and I've been there.  I know what these guys are feeling."

PJ's Mark Daniels asked Chris how he was feeling about this weekend's much-hyped showdown with the Arizona Cardinals - which quite a few people think could be a Super Bowl preview - and he didn't hold back in describing how pumped he is.

"Excited, I think, would be putting it mildly.  I'm really excited to get this season underway.  This is when it counts.  The preseason was fun for me being out there with the team and playing with these guys.  I'll be more than excited now to get out there and play in the regular season."

"I'm excited.  There are going to be a lot of opportunities for all of us.  I think the group we have is really good and we have a lot of talent in that room.  I'm excited to get to work with all of those guys."

That may set a record for the number of times using "excited" in a press conference since Tim Tebow, but Hogan's got a point.  The Patriots are loaded with talent at the pass-catching positions, with veterans like Gronk and Julian Edelman, young guns like Malcolm Mitchell, successful players that are newbies to the Patriots offense like Martellus Bennett, and wild-cards like A.J. Derby that showed up out of nowhere this preseason.

New England rolls out on Friday to fly to Arizona and get ready for the first Sunday Night Football game of the 2016 season.

Prime time!