Patriots NT Vince Wilfork says Jets deserve respect for backing up talk with 16-9 win

Wilfork: Jets deserve respect for backing up talk

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Vince Wilfork stood at his locker and faced the unpleasant facts: The Jets talked trash and then backed it up.

Now the Patriots must figure out how to correct the mistakes that kept them from scoring a touchdown Sunday for the first time in 42 games.

Last week, Jets nose tackle Kris Jenkins said they would play the game like it’s the Super Bowl, while safety Kerry Rhodes said the goal was to try to embarrass the Patriots. Earlier, New York coach Rex Ryan said he’s not intimidated by New England coach Bill Belichick.

“You can say whatever you want to say about them, but they talked smack (and) they backed it up,” nose tackle Wilfork said Monday after the Jets won 16-9. “You can’t do nothing but show them their respect. They kicked our butts and that’s all it is. You take your wins as a man. You take your losses as a man.”

Belichick, though, seemed to be having trouble getting over this loss.

Less than 24 hours after the Patriots fell to 1-1, he wore a glum expression. He referred repeatedly to a need for everyone to perform better. Their next opponent is unbeaten Atlanta in Foxborough.

“I don’t think a lot of things have changed since we talked (Sunday) afternoon,” Belichick said. “Just overall we need to do a lot of things better than we did yesterday down in Giants Stadium: coaching, playing, offense, defense, special teams, big guys, skilled guys, you name it.”

On offense, the Patriots settled for three field goals in the first half when drives stalled. On special teams, they allowed a long kickoff return to start the second half. On defense, they let the Jets move 56 yards in three plays after that kickoff to a 9-yard scoring pass from rookie Mark Sanchez to Dustin Keller.

On that drive, defensive end Ty Warren noticed some changes from the first half.

“They seemed like they were moving at a little quicker pace,” he said.

The Patriots’ defense, strong most of the game, couldn’t keep up.

“I think we played solid defense,” Warren said. “It was something we could definitely build on. It was better, I think, than the first week.”

The offense was a much bigger problem. It continued to struggle one week after the Patriots needed two touchdowns in the final 2:06 to beat the Buffalo Bills 25-24.

Three-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady was outplayed by Sanchez. With Wes Welker sidelined, his second and third receivers were Joey Galloway and rookie free agent Julian Edelman, a former college quarterback.

Edelman did catch eight passes and Galloway grabbed five.

“It really doesn’t matter because it’s a team sport” and the Patriots lost, Edelman said. “I have a long way to go.”

With Welker out, the Jets could pay more attention to Randy Moss, who finished with four receptions. In their previous game, Moss and Welker each caught 12 passes.

The Patriots had an effective running game, but chose to rush the only 20 times for 83 yards while Brady threw 47 passes, completing just 23. In two games, he’s thrown 100 times.

Belichick didn’t seem concerned about the lack of offensive balance.

“I’d like to score more points. That’s what the offense is out there for — to score points,” he said. “If that’s throwing the ball seven or eight times a game, if we score a lot of points, that’s good. If it’s running the ball 70 times a game and we score a lot of points, that’d be fine with me, too.”

Maybe then the Patriots wouldn’t have to hope that Brady would need to add to his 29 wins after trailing or being tied in the fourth quarter.

Down 16-9, he got the ball one last time with 1:48 left at his 10-yard line. He led the Patriots to one first down before his fourth-down pass to Galloway was knocked away by Dwight Lowery.

No comeback this time.

“For the guys that have been here and seen it over the years, you kind of sit back and think that’s going to happen,” Warren said, “but (the) reality is it’s not going to happen every time. It happened last week. It didn’t happen this week, so we can’t always rely on that. Everybody’s got to pull their weight.”