"Jerod Mayo took the field last night with one major alteration from last season. And it had nothing to do with the Patriots' revamped defense.

"I can see!" Mayo told the Herald this week.

During the offseason, while the NFL was locked out, Mayo used the time to get locked in. The Patriots captain underwent LASIK eye surgery to dramatically improve his vision and help him read his keys on the field.

Thanks to Dr. Sam Melki at Boston Laser, Mayo no longer had to worry about his contact lenses on the field. He now does commercials for the practice.

"I don't have to wake up and put contacts in every morning," said Mayo, who had five tackles in the Pats' season-opening 38-24 win against Miami last night. "It's been great for me, to be honest with you. Playing with contacts in the past, my contacts would pop out during the game when I hit somebody sometimes. Dr. Melki did an excellent job on my LASIK, and I haven't had any problems.""