Patriots’ defensive lineman and Louisiana native Jarvis Green spoke with a Louisiana newspaper recently, and had some interesting comments. He talked about a wide variety of topics, including New England’s near-miss in Super Bowl XLII and the success he and the Patriots’ had early in his career.

He’s looking forward to the 2009 season: “This season will be a special season because I know everybody is watching to see what we’re going to do,” he said. “Who we are on paper doesn’t mean anything. It’s a great year to go back and see how we put things together after the way last year ended.”

He also talked about missing his home state of Louisiana — especially in the winter — and tacked on an interesting footnote: “This is my last year with the Patriots. I’d love to come home and finish off as a Saint.” The 30-year-old Green is entering the final year of a five-year contract he signed in 2005.