FOXBOROUGH — After nearly seven months of waiting, Mike Gillislee finally got to put on pads again. He made it count.

The new Patriots running back trotted onto the practice field for a goal-line situation Saturday morning, the first practice of the year in which players were allowed to wear pads. Gillislee took a handoff and powered through safety Devin McCourty for a touchdown. Gillislee spiked the ball in the end zone as quarterback Tom Brady chirped at the defensive players standing on the sideline.

One possession later, Gillislee took another handoff near the goal line. The 219-pounder followed fullback James Develin and left tackle Nate Solder on a stretch play, and he once again plunged into the end zone.

“It meant a lot,’’ Gillislee said about receiving the first goal-line touch. “I pretty much established myself last year when I was with Buffalo on the goal line. I just had to come here and show the coaches what I can do. I think I showed it there.’’

This physical running style is a familiar sight in Foxborough. For the previous three seasons it was 250-pound LeGarrette Blount, who led the league with 18 regular-season rushing touchdowns in 2016. Blount signed with the Eagles May 17, carving the way for Gillislee to potentially become New England’s go-to goal-line runner.

Running backs coach Ivan Fears has been searching for Blount’s successor. Gillislee will compete for playing time with James White, Dion Lewis, and newly acquired Rex Burkhead, all of whom are multipurpose backs.

“Somebody has got to play big for us,’’ Fears said Wednesday. “We have enough guys who can play finesse football. Somebody has got to play power football for us. We have to find out who is going to do that.’’

Saturday morning’s practice was a small sample, but it provided what may be the first answer. That Gillislee was given the first two goal-line carries of camp against full contact was telling.

Gillislee is with his fourth team in five years. The Dolphins drafted him in 2013, but he recorded only six carries in two seasons and was released in 2015. He joined the Cardinals’ practice squad for all of one month before the Bills picked up the former Florida Gator. Gillislee finally saw the field consistently in 2016 as the Bills’ backup behind LeSean McCoy.

The duo helped fuel the top rushing attack in the NFL, and Gillislee led the league with 5.7 yards per carry on 101 attempts.

Meanwhile, Blount posted career highs of 1,161 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns in 2016. But his yards per carry steadily decreased from the time he joined the Patriots, from 4.7 in 2014, to 4.3 in 2015, to 3.9 last season.

The Patriots offered Gillislee a two-year, $6.4 million tender with Blount still on the roster. Last season, Blount carried the ball 299 times, the second most in the NFL. He played only 47 percent of the Patriots’ snaps, meaning he was frequently touching the ball whenever he was on the field.

Despite his gaudy numbers, Gillislee was actually better than Blount in the trenches.

In 2016, Gillislee averaged 4.7 yards per carry against stacked fronts of at least eight defenders in the box. Blount averaged a paltry 1.2 yards per carry in those situations. Gillislee produced 5.8 yards per carry against seven-man fronts, as opposed to Blount’s 4-yards-per-carry output.

Before the Patriots played the Bills in Week 8 last season, coach Bill Belichick praised Gillislee’s running style.

“[Gillislee is] a strong downhill runner, one-cut guy that’s hard to tackle, [a] good complementary player to McCoy,’’ Belichick said.

Gillislee went on to rush 12 times for 85 yards and a touchdown in the matchup, one of the best performances of his career. Now having joined the opposing side, he has an opportunity to earn the goal-line role, which served Blount well in his three years.

“That was last year,’’ Gillislee said of his performance against New England. “I am here now and I’ve got on this uniform. I look forward to doing the same thing and running hard this year.’’

Gillislee aced his first test Saturday morning.

Brad Almquist can be reached at brad.almquist@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @bquist13.