FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- One week ago as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, running back LeGarrette Blount walked off the field early after receiving zero carries. Now back in a New England Patriots' jersey, Blount carried the football like he never left the Pats.

Blount was asked after the game if he was surprised he made this quick of a turnaround. He shrugged off the question with a confident “no.”

“It’s a blast,” Blount said of being back with the Patriots. “I missed it here.”

Blount finished with 12 carries for 78 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s win over the Detroit Lions.

On his first touchdown, Blount paid tribute to former teammate Antonio Brown by performing the Steelers receiver’s hip-twisting touchdown dance.

“That was to my homie, man,” Blount said. “He’s going to always be a lifelong friend of mine. That was a little tribute to him. And like I said, he’s always going to be a close friend of mine.”

Blount, who became the Patriots’ big-bodied, bruising running back down the stretch in 2013, doesn’t see any differences between last year’s and this year’s offense.

“No, it looked like they clicked on all cylinders to me,” Blount said. “The offensive line just went out there and did a really good job. They were opening up some nice pieces for me to run through. Just when you get to the second level and break a couple tackles, that’s what makes the long runs. For the most part [the Lions] played well, we just played better.”

After Jonas Gray rushed for 201 yards on 37 carries last week against the Colts, Blount didn’t know what to expect in terms of a workload.

“I was prepared for anything,” Blount said. “I came in and they told me just be prepared for whatever we use you for, so I made sure I was ready.

“I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t assume anything. Like I said, they told me to come in here and just be ready for whatever role they put me in and I just came here prepared to do whatever they wanted me to do.”

Team captain and defensive tackle Vince Wilfork is glad to have Blount back with the team.

“He knows how we do things around here,” Wilfork said. “He’s never been a problem for us and I don’t see him being a problem for us, but it’s going to be up to him to do what he knows he can do. He knows he’s got a full supporting cast of his teammates and his coaching staff behind [him] and we feel the same way toward him and he feels the same way toward us.

“I’m just happy to see him back and it was a good welcome back for him today against a team like Detroit.”

After Blount’s stint in Pittsburgh had an ugly ending, he was thankful for the Patriots giving him yet another chance.

“It felt good,” Blount said. “It’s refreshing.”