Nate Solder Looking Forward to Denver Homecoming, Downplays Mile-High Altitude’s Effect on Games

FOXBORO, Mass. — Patriots first-round pick Nate Solder is excited for an opportunity to head home to Denver this week, but he's not getting caught up in the fanfare of New England's business trip.

Solder, who starred at Colorado, has made seven starts at right tackle this season. However, due to the uncertain status of Sebastian Vollmer's foot and back, there's no telling how much playing time Solder could get during Sunday's game against the Broncos.

At any rate, Solder is looking forward to the trip.

"It's going to be neat," Solder said. "It's an exciting game. I'm excited about it, definitely."

Solder, a Broncos fan growing up, pointed toward the altitude as a unique aspect of games in Denver, but he said they played it up a lot more to try to psyche out their opponents. Yet, as he also noted, it didn't work out so well.

"We always tried to make a big deal about [the altitude]," Solder said. "But we didn't win a whole lot of games when I was there, so maybe it didn't make a whole lot of difference.

"There's signs about it and that sort of thing. We liked to think that it gave us a confidence boost when we were going down in elevation, but I think you're well-conditioned. You just kind of play football no matter what."