James Sanders will provide a safety valve for the Patriots.

Journal / Bob Breidenbach

FOXBORO — There were few players more in media demand this week than James Sanders. The third-year safety will begin this season the way he ended the last one — as a starter, replacing Rodney Harrison. But this time it is under very different circumstances. Harrison is serving a four-game suspension after admitting that he bought and used human growth hormone.

Quiet off the field but a growing force on it, Sanders is the oldest of six children, and was responsible for taking care of his siblings from a young age while their mother worked as a nurse. He came to New England after a standout career at Fresno State (where he played for former Bill Belichick assistant Pat Hill) led to him being drafted in the fourth round in 2005.

Here’s this week’s Up Close.

My first car: Was a 2000 Ford Escort. I got it when I was in college. It wasn’t the worst.… It was all right.

Last album I bought/downloaded: Sam Cooke. I’m trying to get more old school. It’s good music and I want to broaden my horizons.

My hero: Is my mother (Kathy Thompson). Growing up in a single-parent home, I’ve always looked up to her. She’s come a long way. I appreciate all that she’s done for us.

If I wasn’t in the NFL: I’d probably go back to school and finish my degree in health science, go into physical therapy.

One job I’d never want: The “Man vs. Wild” guy (Bear Grylls). I wouldn’t want to be that guy. That’s kind of crazy right there. It’s interesting, but I could never be that guy. (On Grylls’ Discovery Channel show, he teaches viewers how to make an ice cave in Iceland and that drinking your own urine can save your life.)

My guilty pleasure: During training camp, it’s fast food. I use training camp as an excuse because we burn so many calories. I can cheat from time to time. Any kind of fast food, but I’d love to get Popeye’s (fried chicken) if I could.

—SHALISE MANZA YOUNG