FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Trevor Reilly clearly doesn't take himself too seriously.

When a reporter approached him Friday to express interest in writing a story about him, he questioned if it was a sound strategy.

"I could be cut before it comes out," he cracked.

One could understand why Reilly, 29, feels that way. Having just been promoted from the practice squad to the New England Patriots' active roster on Wednesday, and having experienced being cut multiple times in his career, he knows what it's like to live football life on the edge.

But he seems safe, at least for this week.

"Trevor has played for us in the kicking game, played for us defensively at linebacker, has some versatility and experience in the system," coach Bill Belichick said. "He was with us for quite a while last year. He has a pretty good recall. We'll see how it goes."

The 6-foot-5, 240-pound Reilly, who grew up in Valley Center, California, shares his "football journey" as part of ESPN.com's weekly feature:

When he first started playing football: "Seven years old. I was an aggressive child. I played soccer, and my dad was like, 'You have to stop beating up on your brothers. We'll put you in football.'"

Favorite teams and players growing up: "I was a Raiders fan. I was a Rams fan, but then they left L.A., so I went with the Raiders until I got into the league. ... Rich Gannon, Tyrone Wheatley, Barrett Robbins, Tim Brown, Jerry Rice. [Napoleon] Kaufman was a good player."

Experiencing the "Tuck Rule" as a fan: "I was in a Dave & Buster's in Mission Valley, California, watching the game and I was almost in tears. I was a hardcore Raiders fan. If they make that play, their fortunes change forever. Possibly the fortunes here change forever."

Football memories at Valley Center High School (83 tackles, 6 sacks as a senior): "We won the championship junior and senior year. We all grew up together and played together all the way through, same kids. I had my 10-year reunion last year; it's fun, that's what we talked about. In California, people don't care about high school football like they do down South, but we were a big deal for our little town, so it was fun."

Initially set to attend Texas Tech: "I committed there junior year, with Mike Leach. I was going there. [But] after high school, I didn't go to college. I worked construction for a year and then went on a church mission in Sweden, went over to Europe preaching the Word. I came back two years later, and Leach was kind of going through some stuff. I didn't think he was going to be there much longer, so I opened up my recruitment and ended up going to Utah. They had just beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. They said, 'You're going to be our next Paul Kruger, Koa Misi and all those guys."

Three years out of football after high school: "I graduated in '06, and my first [college] season was fall of '09. I got bigger. I graduated high school and was only like 190 pounds. [After those three years] I was 220, stronger, faster. It was good on my body. I'm 29 right now, but my body is only 26 in football years. ... You have to live with someone for two years, you have to be around them all the time. It's like being married almost. So you learn to be selfless, you learn to think of other people besides yourself, which I think has helped me."

Top football memories at Utah: "We beat Stanford when they were fifth in the country. We had just moved in [to the Pac-12] from the Mountain West to the big boys, so they came to Utah, into the country. Some of my best games were against the best teams -- USC, Oregon State. We didn't have much success my last two years, but my all-time memory would be the last play I ever played in college. We were 4-7, not making a bowl game and playing Colorado. Rival game. They're driving to possibly tie the game, or possibly win if they go for 2, and I get a pick and throw the ball out of the stadium. Last play ever."

Drafted by the Jets in the seventh round (233rd overall) in 2014: "As a kid, you always think about 'I just want to play college ball' and now here you are going to the league and getting drafted; whatever happens, you can always say somebody wanted you at that point. We had 14 draft picks that year, and I made the team. We weren't very good, didn't have a QB and had a lot of young players. We were $25 million under the cap. We all thought it was understood between the GM, owner and coach that 'This is going to be one of those years.' The owner kind of blew things up when the fans turned on him."

After playing 29 games over two seasons, getting released with an injury settlement in 2016 and signing with the Patriots practice squad (Oct. 20 to Dec. 19): "When you're wanted by the best team in the league, one of the best dynasties in the history of the game, it's an honor. I was here for most of the Super Bowl run. It felt good to win again. It had been a while since I had been part of a winner."

Signed by the Dolphins to their 53-man roster off the New England practice squad: "I told these guys, 'I'd like to stay,' but they didn’t have room to bring me up. The biggest thing is that you do all this work, you want to play. Bill understands that. I don't think there were hard feelings toward me. Honestly, I needed one game to be vested."

Playing in three games for Miami and ultimately getting released in 2017: "We made the playoffs; that was good. I learned a lot of good things down there, and we moved my family there. We like it down there. They are a class organization, and the owner [Stephen Ross] is a class dude. Good coaches. I don't have anything bad to say about them."

Signing with Patriots practice squad shortly after being released: "It's been a whirlwind. Practice squad. Now back up to the roster. We've had some unfortunate injuries. I have to make some plays this week."

Role models in his life: "I kind of went to the beat of my own drum growing up. I kind of had a set of rules I followed; I just knew I wanted to be something great. I wanted to be a football player. I don't know if it was one person, but my high school football coach [Randy Cowell], he's a guy I still ... he formed me the way I am today as far as working hard, hard-nosed, tough."

What he loves about football: "When I was a kid, you could physically put hands on somebody without getting in trouble. That was why I fell in love with the game. As you get older, it's the strategy and winning."