Asked this week how his ticket requests were coming, Douglas shook his head and smiled.

“My Mom is handling all of that,” he said. “Got a lot of people coming out.”

It’s a highly anticipated weekend for Douglas, who grew up rooting for the Jaguars.

“It’s going to feel good, you know?” he said. “Go back home and play in front of the home crowd.

“I get to play it in front of my people back at home, people who probably can’t fly up or fly to an away game. It’s going to be fun.”

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Angie Oxendine with her son, DeMario Douglas, who was born in Jacksonville, Fla., and raised to be a football player who now plays receiver for the Patriots.Courtesy Angie Oxendine

Douglas was born in Jacksonville, but his family moved about 40 miles south on Interstate 95 to nearby St. Augustine when he was 4 years old. When he was ready to attend high school, Douglas’s mother knew she had to return to their hometown.

“He had a bigger village in Jacksonville,” said Oxendine, recalling how a group of coaches mentored her son and fostered his love of sports.

“They would come pick him up for practice every day. They would come take him to the games,” Oxendine recalled. “You know, I had my other babies; they were smaller, so anything I needed to do, [those coaches] would do.”

That led to a college football career at Liberty that vaulted him to the professional ranks as the Patriots’ 2023 sixth-round pick.

Wide receiver DeMario Douglas was a sixth-round pick of the Patriots in the 2023 NFL Draft. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff

“These coaches actually did build an amazing village around him,” Oxendine said. “It gave a lot of resources and exposure, like playing 7-on-7 football. That was a huge exposure for him that he may not have gotten in St. Augustine.”

Off the field, philanthropy has always been an important part of his life. Oxendine remembered her son wrapped up his old clothes and took them to school to be donated to less fortunate classmates. As a collegian, he donated NIL money to charity drives.

In New England, he’s worked as a mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts, and was recently selected to be a part of the NFL’s “Play 60” campaign.

And now, “Heading Home,” the largest family shelter provider in Massachusetts, is partnering with Douglas and Patriots teammate Terrell Jennings, also a native of Jacksonville and a Mandarin High alum, to raise awareness of the unseen side of family homelessness.

“Family homelessness in Massachusetts rarely looks the way people expect,” said Danielle Ferrier, CEO of Heading Home. “A kid sleeping on the couch of a friend’s grandmother is one of so many instances that fly under the radar. But it’s real.

“Pop and Terrell are an example of what happens when a community shows up for a family, and we are grateful they are lending their story to the thousands of families we serve.”

As for Sunday, Douglas and the Patriots are looking to go to 2-1 this Sunday at the expense of his hometown team. It’s a key game for a Patriots’ offense that’s looking to shake off some early season inconsistency.

“It’s a long season, and I think we got a lot of room to improve. You just got to keep improving and keep stacking games,” said Douglas, who is tied for the team lead with six catches.

“But I feel like this is how you find like who are the dawgs on the team, and who’s going to play for 60 minutes. As we go game by game, that’s what we’re going to find out. ‘Who are our playmakers? Who’s going to go through that tunnel with us?’”

Ultimately, with temperatures expected in the 80s for kickoff and plenty of friends and family in the stands, Douglas is looking forward to a taste of home when he hits the field at EverBank Stadium.

“It’s going to be hot out there, most definitely,” he said. “But it’s going to be fun.”

The Patriots elevated safety Mike Brown and defensive tackle Jeremiah Pharms Jr. from the practice squad on Saturday. Brown will provide an additional layer of depth at the safety position, where Craig Woodson (shoulder) is questionable for Sunday’s game.

Woodson and tight end Eli Raridon (thigh), both of whom were listed Friday as questionable, made the trip to Jacksonville. Woodson practiced on Friday, while Raridon missed practice on Thursday and Friday.

Interestingly, the Patriots did not elevate an edge rusher off the practice squad, despite the fact outside linebacker Dre’Mont Jones (shoulder) was downgraded to out and linebacker Quintayvious Hutchins (knee) was placed on short-term injured reserve.

Christopher Price can be reached at christopher.price@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at christopherprice.bsky.social.