FOXBORO — Few people knew their way around the old Meadowlands like Bill Belichick.

Belichick spent 15 seasons getting his mail right at Exit 16W off the Jersey Turnpike (12 seasons as an assistant with the Giants and three more with the Jets). And then, there were the 10 years of visits as head coach of the Patriots. But when his team hits Jersey for their final preseason game Thursday night, it’ll mark his first visit to the New Meadowlands Stadium.

It’ll mark one of the earliest appearances the Patriots have ever made at a new venue. Of course, they opened their own place — Gillette Stadium — in September 2002. The Patriots faced the Eagles in Week 2 of the 2003 season, just weeks after Philly opened Lincoln Financial Field. And while they did play a one-off game against Tampa Bay at Wembley Stadium in London last year, the last time the Patriots played in a new venue in its first year of existence was on Nov. 2, 2008, when they played their first-ever game against the Colts in Lucas Oil Stadium.

While this game will be used to evaluate the roster and decide on the final 10 or so roster spots, it will also be used to get a sense of how the stadium plays in advance of the Patriots-Jets game in Week 2 of the regular season.

When you walk into a new stadium for the first time, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said there are all sorts of logistical questions when it comes to getting familiar with the place: Getting a measure of the field conditions, the footing, the lighting for the returners and wind patterns, as well as the locations of the coaches' press box and the 40-second clocks for quarterbacks.

“It’s a lot of little things,” Belichick said. “But it’s just easier when you’ve had a run through once before, and you kind of know what you are doing.”

While the new environment affects every one of the players, the quarterbacks have the most to deal with. Backup Brian Hoyer said you have to be on the field earlier than usual to get the measure of the place.

“There are a lot of things to look for. Obviously, the first thing I look for is the 40-second clock, because that’s pretty key,” Hoyer said. “Then, obviously, the scoreboard, because you need the game clock.

“You get a feel for the winds. Where the sun might be. Where the lights are. The turf — you take a couple of pairs of shoes and try and figure it out,” he added. “Where the wind is. You’ve got to kind of go over that with your receivers, that if you’re throwing a deep ball to one end of the end zone and the sun is behind you, it’s going to be a tough catch for them. So there are a lot of things that go into it.”

While the Patriots are going to spend Thursday getting familiar with the New Meadowlands, they’ll also continue to get used to some of the new amenities in their own place. The Patriots brought in new FieldTurf for the Gillette Stadium surface in the offseason, something they’re still getting used to — they’ve only been on the field three times (two games, one practice).

Belichick said Monday that the new turf has had an affect, but not dramatically.

“I think it’s definitely different,” Belichick said of the surface, which was installed at Gillette this spring. “It’s a contrast from where we were at with the old field at the end of the [2009] season — newer, thicker, softer. We’ve only been on it a couple of times now, the two games and one practice. We are still getting adjusted to it as well. It’s definitely a softer surface than what we had before.”

“This year is a lot better — you can tell the difference,” Hoyer said of the new surface. “It’s a little bit more cushiony, a bit more soft, and it feels pretty much like natural grass out there, for the most part. It’ll get broken in, and it’ll probably get better. But for being new turf ... usually, new turf is hard. This stuff is pretty good.”

Another big change has been the new scoreboards. The second largest in the league, the board in the South end zone is 41.5-by-164 feet. The one in the North end zone (the lighthouse side) is 45-by-100 feet. (The old ones were 27-by-48 feet.) They can be a bit overwhelming at times, especially at night.

“The scoreboard is a little different,” Belichick said. “It’s great for the fans. It’s a little more distracting for the players on the field with the brightness and all that.”

“There’s times where — I don’t really notice during the game — but there’s times where I’ll be warming up, and you’re throwing, and it’s so big that you can see a shot of yourself and you see yourself throwing,” Hoyer said. “It is kind of distracting in that sense, but like I said, when it gets to the game, you’re focused on so many other things, you don’t really notice it.”