Special-teams captain Larry Izzo takes time to greet the fans at Gillette Stadium who turned out last night to welcome home the Patriots from the Super Bowl.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

FOXBORO — There are many homes in the Blackstone Valley region of Rhode Island with Patriots flags flying at half-staff. Businesses along Route 1 heading toward Gillette Stadium still haven’t taken down their good-luck messages to the home-town team.

The aftereffects of the New England Patriots’ devastating loss at the hands of the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII were still visible last night as Gillette Stadium was literally and figuratively in the dark.

A few floodlights cast a dim shadow over a sparse-but-loyal group of 200 fans who stood in the cold weather near the team’s pro shop to welcome home the NFL’s runner-up team. The Pats remain champions in the hearts and minds of the fans. It was quite different from the 15,000 fans who were at Gillette two weeks ago for the Super Bowl sendoff.

Fans began to gather last night around 5 o’clock in anticipation of the team’s arrival home. Around 8 o’clock a security guard screamed out, “Five minutes,” and the fans began to cheer. In the distance, a lone football was being tossed back and forth between a father and son. Finally, at 8:16, the blue lights from the police escort could be seen coming into the parking lot with five buses of players, personnel, friends and family.

“We’re here to support our guys,” said Sue LaFauci of Smithfield. “We still love them and we will love them. We’re disappointed like everyone else, naturally, but we won 18 and we tried.”

The buses moved slowly past the fans. One Patriots employee later described the flight home from Arizona as “somber.”

Al and Claudia Inglese of North Attleboro have had Patriots season tickets for 30 years, so they’ve experienced a lot of the ups and downs that come with being a football fan in New England. Their seats at Gillette Stadium are six rows behind the Patriots’ bench.

“It was just so disheartening [Sunday],” said Al Inglese. “It was just so sad. I know how I feel, but I have no idea how the players feel. I can’t even imagine because they put everything out there on the line and we’re just fans rooting. We got our heart and soul into it and they’ve got everything into it, and that’s why we’re here because we had to support them. They were playing for all of us.”

The players stepped off the bus and headed to the locker room, unlike in years past when the team returned victorious from the Super Bowl. Head coach Bill Belichick began to head into the building, but he quickly turned around and made his way back tothe fans.

The coach walked all the way down the fence line, shaking hands and giving high-fives. Players Ben Watson, Larry Izzo, Adalius Thomas, Ellis Hobbs, defensive coordinator Dean Pees, Kyle Eckel, Stephen Spach, Sammy Morris, Eric Alexander, Ray Ventrone and Randall Gay all returned separately from the players’ entrance to where the fans were cordoned off to sign autographs, take pictures and say thanks for coming out.

“As far as I’m concerned, it was a perfect season, whether they won the Super Bowl or not,” said Deb Imondi of Smithfield. “[Tom Brady] is still the best quarterback in the NFL and the Patriots are still the best team, no matter what the outcome.”

Not every player arrived back at Gillette last night, including quarterback Tom Brady. Some players and family returned to Boston earlier yesterday, while others went directly home from Arizona. The Patriots’ Pro Bowl players (excluding Brady and Randy Moss, who both pulled out because of ankle injuries) went to Hawaii.

Chris Lotsbom, 17, of Walpole drove to Foxboro and was standing in front of the pro shop wearing a replica Patriots helmet and waiting for his team to arrive.

“You have to support the Patriots,” he said. “It’s disappointing, but you have to give the Giants credit. Their D-line just beat our O-line, and that was it.”

jmcdonal@projo.com