FOXBOROUGH, MA — It has not been an easy road for Calvin Anderson during the preseason. 

The offensive tackle remained on the non-football illness list for all of training camp, just being activated from the list on Tuesday. This was the same day that the New England Patriots had to cut their roster down to 53 players, with Anderson making the cut. 

And now that he's back on the field, Anderson described how there is nothing quite like it. 

"It's priceless because you realize how much you take this for granted when you don't have it," Anderson said to A to Z Sports on Wednesday. "Being back in the building and being back around the guys and obviously being back on the field, doing what you love with other people who are elite and take it as seriously as you do."

Following Tuesday's practice, reporters spoke with Anderson for the first time, asking what kept him sidelined for the preseason. However, the offensive tackle was not ready to talk about his illness which seems to have been considerable. 

“So, we agreed we’re not gonna talk in-depth about what actually happened just yet because I obviously wanna get back on the field and keep the main thing the main thing," Anderson told reporters. "But we will have a chat about it when the time comes. But it was serious, and I’m just grateful to be back. I’m blessed. I think you realize in moments like that how many things you take for granted. Just small things. So, I’m just so grateful to be back on the field, be around the guys again. It’s truly a blessing to be back.”

Anderson added that there was some fears he wouldn't be able to play again, but worked his way through the illness and is back on the field with his team. And he also credits his teammates with helping him through such a challenging time. 

"There's nothing like it. I'm just really, really grateful to be back. Happy to have made it through everything. Happy I got great teammates that made it easier to check in on me and stuff. So it's nice getting back to work," Anderson told A to Z Sports. "They made it much easier to go through that. Now that I'm back, obviously it feels like I've never really left, at least left the left the mind."

While he will never forget what he went through, Anderson is prepared to focus on what is ahead. 

And that's the NFL season. 

"Anybody who's been through some seasons in the league will tell you that there's a very big difference between the preseason and the NFL season. So, everything ramps up mentally, it ramps up physically, it ramps up, everything counts obviously a lot more. And so what we do on the field should replicate that. So everything needs to get ramped up from a preparation standpoint, and we got big things to do."

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