FOXBORO, Mass. -- Despite winning 13 straight games against the Jets, the Patriots matchups against New York continue to have a rivalry feel to them.
Perhaps that's due to the general beef between Boston and New York sports, but the Jets are always up to try to beat New England each season, and the Patriots are always prepared to face every opponent each week.
The Jets will especially want revenge this Sunday at Gillette Stadium after the Patriots beat them at MetLife Stadium in Week 8.
"They got us at home and obviously our goal is to return the favor," wide receiver Braxton Berrios told reporters Monday, per the Associated Press' Dennis Waszak Jr.
After practice Wednesday, Patriots linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley had a simple response to New York's motivation to split the season series.
"I would feel the same way," Bentley said. "I mean, this is football. We next on the schedule, they next on our schedule. So, we eager for the competition. Like I said, this is ball. All the hype, all that kind of stuff, all the build up, we let y'all kind of do that, but at the end of the day, we on the field. So we got to make sure that when we hit the field, we do everything that we need to do to try to end up with a win, and that's our sole goal. All the other stuff leading up to the game, none of that really matters."
The Patriots and the Jets are each emerging off bye weeks and are coming off a short span of time the last time they each played each other. But the hype has not died down, especially because Sunday's game could decide AFC playoff standings.
"That's the beauty of football, and when you think about the National Football League, in general, you get the media involved. You have press conferences and things like that," Bentley said. "The build up just kind of gets everything going, gets the competitive juices flowing. But at the end of the day, when Sunday hits and the ball is out there, we all gotta go out there and play the game. You can't take what everybody says in the media out on the field. At the end of the day, you're there, so we just go to make sure when we hit the field, we're prepared. I don't look down the line. I'm focused on if we had a good solid practice today, I'm looking forward to tomorrow so we can have another solid practice. And leading up to the game, just making sure we don't let opportunities slip by."
New England's defense was the highlight of the first half of the season, but it will be up to Mac Jones and the offense to show it has changed things up after the bye week if the Patriots want to compete in the postseason, and those questions will be answered this Sunday against the Jets.
