FOXBORO - Disappointing as the outcome of their last game that counted may have been, it didn't make the New England Patriots whip themselves up into a frothy fervor to take the field in last Thursday night's preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens.

It was even more of a non-event for Patriots' wide receiver Wes Welker, who had been off the physically-unable-to-perform list for only a few days, and knew he wasn't going to play in the game.

"I didn't play," he said earlier this week at the Patriots' training complex, "so it's a little different when you going to be out there and actually get some snaps. It's hard to really feel much. But we're just treating it as if it's a new year, and what happened last year happened last year. Everybody went into this game pretty much the same as they went into last year's preseason games."

The 17-14 loss to the New York Giants - in which Welker tied a Super Bowl record of 11 receptions, held by Jerry Rice, Dan Ross and Deion Branch - is ancient history now, he said.

"We erased that a long time ago," he said. "So we're just ready to move on from there." Welker, whose absence was never officially explained (but was widely speculated to be a groin injury) is likely to see his first action of the 2008 preseason Sunday in Tampa, as the Patriots take on the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium (8 p.m.; NFL Network, Ch. 4).

"I'm always looking forward to the opportunity of getting out there and running some routes and competing a little bit," he said.

Welker made a huge impact in his first season as a Patriot, coming to them as a free agent from the Miami Dolphins. He shattered the team's single-season reception record with 112 catches, 11 more than Troy Brown's 2001 season, and his 1,175 yards placed him fourth behind fellow newcomer Randy Moss (1,493), Stanley Morgan (1,491) and Brown (1,199).

All that's well and good, Welker said, but it's a new season with a new set of challenges.

"There's always something to work on," he said. "No matter how good it is out there, there's always something that we can work on and get better at. And that's whether we put up 400 yards or a hundred. There's always something that we can improve at, and that's what we plan on doing."

The 5-foot-9, 185-pounder from Texas Tech, via Oklahoma City, said there are plenty of things for the talented receiving corps to address following its six-month layoff.

"It's a lot of things at this point communication, there's executing your technique and focusing out there, and making sure you're doing the right things," he said. "I think just from the receiver's position, it's just us getting open, getting some separation, and making sure we're running the right routes at the right depths, and making sure we're continuing to do that on a daily basis."

The Patriots have an accelerated timetable in which to prepare for the start of the regular season Sept. 7 at home against the Chiefs. After the rare Sunday game (an edict from the NFL Network), they play again the following Friday at home against the Philadelphia Eagles, then wrap up the preseason Aug. 28 at Giants Stadium against the world's champs - a game in which it's highly unlikely that the starters will see more than a series of play, if that.

Welker doesn't see the uneven scheduling as a problem, however.

"I don't think so," he said. "We just take it a day at a time of going out there and preparing, and doing the best you can, and not really worrying about scheduling or this and that. You worry about your play out there on the field, and day in and day out trying to get better." And the most important thing he hopes to get out of this preseason, now that it's finally in full swing for him?

"The key is just getting open and running the routes the way Tom (Brady) wants me to," he said.

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com. Read Farinella's blog, "Blogging Fearlessly," at thesunchronicle.com/farinella.