No truth to the rumor that Bill Belichick is planning on punting immediately after receiving the opening kickoff against the Jets on Sunday in an effort to prove just how much confidence he has in his defense. Oh, wait, we’ve moved on from last Sunday night? Sure we have! And there could be no better opponent for this week than the loud-mouthed, teary-eyed Gang Green in what used to be the Patriots biggest rivalry game. New York comes to town with its season hanging by a thread, the same thread that its emotional head coach is hanging from. (Rex Ryan hanging from a thread? That has to be the world’s strongest thread!) Anyway it’s a return to the AFC East for a bounce back battle with the Jets at Gillette Stadium. Rodney Harrison’s not walking through that door. Tedy Bruschi’s not walking through that door. But like the rest of Patriots Nation, they’ll be watching to see how New England responds to last Sunday night’s emotional loss. With that in mind here’s another blood-boiling Friday Six-Pack to hold us over until Sunday’s 4:15 kickoff. Please, consume responsibly.

1.  Bounce back – We’re all waiting to see how everyone responds to last Sunday’s deflating defeat. Is the defense burning to prove itself or sulking over the lack of confidence Belichick showed in the unit? Will fans cheer or boo Belichick in Foxborough? (Rhetorical question, save your emails.) My guess is that New England will bounce back in a big way focused on beating up on the Jets for an endless number of reasons. Revenge. Hate. Embarrassment. Kevin O’Connell. All the motivating factors are there for an emotional, rallying victory before the home crowd. And that’s what I think we’ll see.

2.  Man up – What is man coverage? Does it come with safety help? That’s the question that’s been raging since Darrelle Revis virtually shut down Randy Moss in the first meeting between these teams. The Jets match up Revis almost exclusively with opponents’ No. 1 receiver. That’s Moss. But could New York decide to have Revis run with Wes Welker, while using more double-teams on Moss? They did that for the most part last year when Ty Law ran with Moss but got plenty of safety help. Revis, considered by his coach and others to be the best corner in the game, appears intent on proving how good he is. I’m sure Moss would like nothing more than to embarrass the impressive youngster. If they get the chance to battle, it should be fun to watch, regardless of what kind of safety help is over the top.

3.  Under pressure – The Jets bring great, overload pressure blitzes to opposing quarterbacks. Mark Sanchez is under huge pressure as a rookie QB in New York. And I expect the Patriots to bring some pressure to him on the field on Sunday. The Patriots will be under pressure to reestablish themselves in the division and the conference. That’s a lot of pressure coming together at one time in one place. Thankfully for New England Tom Brady has made a living under pressure. I would be shocked if he doesn’t do that again. The Jets have a good defense, so it won’t be easy. But look for New England, with a healthy Welker this time around, to have more success on offense than it did in the first meeting. And look for the team’s defensive pressure and rebuilt confidence to literally score some points both with its coach and for the home team.

4.  D-man? – This is a week about questions. Right call or wrong? Confidence or none? Which player will step up and assume the biggest leadership role on defense? Jerod Mayo, a captain, did that with his comments on Thursday. I think his fellow captain, Vince Wilfork, will help do the same on the field on Sunday. The Jets want to run the ball with Thomas Jones. Wilfork has made his name stopping the run. I generally give him and his teammates the edge in most matchups with decent-to-good running games. Mayo didn’t play the first time around. He’s back. The defense will get the job done against the run and in terms of confidence, with Wilfork and Mayo leading the charger in both areas.

5.  Health update – The Patriots injury list is as long as it is illustrious. While the team has avoided many season-ending injuries – and stars like Tom Brady and Randy Moss seem to be on there in name only — the walking wounded have been many in recent weeks. But there seems to be good news on the horizon for Matt Light, Sammy Morris and Ty Warren. Julian Edelman should be ready for a little bit more action this week. The biggest questions will be with the injuries from the Colts game, including Tully Banta-Cain, Stephen Neal and Rob Ninkovich. Ideally this team is turning the corner on injuries where more guys are returning to action than are being lost to it. We’ll get a better idea of that on Sunday afternoon. It will be especially interesting to see the situation on the offensive line. If Light is back does he return to start at left tackle? Belichick has said that’s his ideal position. But Sebastian Vollmer has played well of late. Could Nick Kaczur get the boot to the bench? The status for the group at three spots would seem up in the air heading into a big division battle with a very good defense. All those blitzes and some changes to the offensive line? That’s a little scary.

6. Wes/Edwards effect – Both the Jets and Patriots will have key weapons in the passing game that were missing the first time around. Welker is back and healthy. He’s making plays and has caught a ton of passes. He makes the offense much more difficult to defend. That also pushes Edelman to a more complementary role than the one he had back in Week 2 when he caught eight passes and was thrown to 16 times. New York has added Braylon Edwards to the mix since that first meeting. He’s third on the team with 16 catches going for 261 yards. He’s tied for the team lead with two touchdowns. He’s averaging and impressive 16.9 yards a catch despite his longest reception going for 41 yards. He’s the No. 1 target the Jets wanted. He challenges a defense in ways the Jets couldn’t in the first meeting. I don’t think Edwards is an elite talent, certainly nothing like Reggie Wayne, but he does make New York’s offense more formidable to stop as a whole. Which receiver has a bigger impact in his first chance at this rivalry this season? My vote goes with Welker.

Prediction:
As you’ve probably surmised in reading the six points of the Six-Pack, I really like the Patriots in this one. I think New York is the perfect opponent this week in terms of emotion and focus. It’s a division game. It’s a revenge game on many levels. It’s a rookie quarterback. I look for Tom Brady to make plays once again through the air and Welker to be a big part of that. I look for the Patriots to run the ball a little bit more, maybe with Morris in the lead role. And I do think the defense will bounce back, including a likelihood of making some big plays against New York and the rookie Sanchez. Sacks? A couple turnovers? Maybe even a score. This will be an emotional day with the Patriots celebrating all the way. Something in the range of a 31-13 Patriots win sounds good to me!

What do you think? Will this be a good bounce back game? Which matchup do you think the Patriots can most exploit? Which matchup is most concerning to you? Let us know with a comment below!

He’s only in his second season, but reigning defensive rookie of the year Jerod Mayo is clearly one of the budding leaders on New England young, re-tooled defense. In many ways that responsibility comes with being a middle linebacker, comes with being a top-10 draft pick and comes even quicker when a team turns over its roster on defense from one year to the next.

In that role as a defensive leader and spokesman, Mayo was asked to respond to the comments of one of his former teammates in the wake of Sunday night’s loss at Indy and the apparent message sent by Bill Belichick to his defense when he decided to go for the fourth-and-two rather than punt the ball away.

ESPN’s Tedy Bruschi, barely months removed from the Patriots locker room, said his blood would be boiling were he still a member of the New England defense.

“To be honest I have the ultimate respect for Tedy and everything he’s done for this organization, but he’s not in this locker room at this point in time,” Mayo said Thursday morning at Gillette Stadium. “So he doesn’t know the feelings that this defense or that this team has. We still have our confidence. We still have our swagger and we’re going to go out on Sunday and show the…media, I guess.”

Mayo said there was “never any doubt” in the defense’s collective mind that Belichick still has confidence in the unit, even if the coach’s Sunday night decision may have indicated otherwise. While many have postured in recent days that this could be a rallying cry for the unit to build upon moving forward, Mayo downplayed that angle when asked if he’d felt the need to address his teammates.

“Not really,” Mayo said. “Everybody was disappointed, especially the day after the game. It was a rough couple days for everybody but we’re over it now and we’re on to the Jets.”

While he isn’t yet inclined to address his unit, he does think it has something to prove.

“Of course. Any time you give up 35 points in a game you try to come back strong the next game. Hopefully we can get that done this week.”

Mayo has always been more about actions than words and says he will proceed as such at this seemingly tough time in the season.

“I try to lead by example. I’m not really a rah-rah guy or anything like that. I try to lead by example and hopefully the guys will follow.”

But if they don’t, and even if it doesn’t come as natural to him as it might for some other players, then Mayo has no problem voicing his opinions.

“I mean if something needs to be said, I’ll say it. I was the same way in college, same way in high school But false excitement and things like that is not the kind of person that I am. I’m a genuine person and guys that know me know that’s the way I am.”

Are you confident in the defense moving forward? Will Mayo and the group rally after Sunday’s disappointing finish? Let us know with a comment below?

Much has been made both in New York and throughout the football world this week of reports that Jets coach Rex Ryan shed some tears in a meeting with his team on Monday.

As such a reporter asked Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick on Wednesday if he’d ever cried in front of his team. Belichick took a light-hearted approach to his answer.

“I’ve coached 35 years, so I’ve probably covered most all the bases,” Belichick said, bringing somewhat rare laughter to the Gillette Stadium media workroom. “I think I even swore once too.”

Belichick may have covered all the bases in this three-plus decades on the sidelines, but Ryan has gone from bravado-driven bully to a teary-eyed basket case in just a few weeks. I guess that’s just how powerful winning and losing can be in the NFL. A 3-0 record is a world-beating comedy. While 4-5 is a tear-jerking tragedy.

Both teams are coming off, in football terms, a tragedy heading into their Sunday afternoon matchup in Foxborough. Maybe both Belichick and Ryan will share a good cry together at midfield during their postgame handshake on Sunday night! I bet that would make Dick Vermeil proud!

More likely is that only one will be in the mood to cry at that point.

What do you think of a coach crying in front of his team? Honest emotion or signs of pure instability? Let us know with a comment below!

Patriots Football Weekly’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Fred Kirsch offers his "Kirsch Words" blog which features in-game commentary during the Patriots away game against the Indianapolis Colts beginning at 7:30pm ET. Read his commentary and notes as he blogs before, during and after the game.
 

IN INDY'S GRILL - Team PFW plus BLowe spent the night before the Patriots-Colts game at the Weber Grill restaurant in Indianapolis.

INDIANAPOLIS - Here in an unseasonably warm midwest (highs have been in the 60s this weekend), Paul, Andy, BLowe, and I went to our favorite Indy eatery, the Weber Grill restaurant in the heart of downtown.

Before we got here, however, a quick story from the voyage from Gillette. Our newest PR guy, Aaron Salkin (good guy, and very good at his job), has become something of a bad-luck charm for us in terms of our transportation. During our preseason game with Washington, he was part of our bus convey when it broke down (see previous Hits the Road entry), and was with us when our bus stalled (before starting back up miraculously) from the hotel to the game in New York in Week 2.

Then, yesterday afternoon, on the way to Green Airport, the lead bus in our convoy experienced trouble and wouldn’t go faster than 35 MPH. So, the whole convoy pulls over and guess who gets bumped to the back bus … Team PFW and friends. BB and about two dozen other coaches and players piled into our bus while we jumped on board with the marketing department’s guests. The delay set us back about a half hour, but we made it to Indy in plenty of time to get to our reservation at Weber … but not before we jokingly threatened to leave Salkin on the side of the road.

BREW-HAHA - Erik's Fat Tire at the Team PFW table at Weber Grill on Saturday night.

Once at Weber, though, we were happy. Paul, Andy, and I got burgers, while BLowe ordered a brisket spread. I also enjoyed my first Fat Tire, which came in a decorative can (insert Andy joke here about liking it in the can). When was the last time you went to a nice restaurant and they served you a beer in a can????

Paul had his usual Miller Light because, let’s be honest, he has a permanent fat tire around his midsection. He was recognized, though, by a fan who stopped by our table to say hello to Paul. To which Paul  replied, after the guy left, “Now I know what it feels like to be BLowe.”