NFL

Extra time off should help Patriots vs. Jets

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The topic of free-time activities brought out the Rex Ryan in Bill Belichick yesterday.

Asked how the Patriots coach spent the off day he had surprised his players with a day earlier, Belichick actually cracked a smile while offering up a tongue-in-cheek response.

“Oh, we played golf, [went] bowling, [held] a little badminton tournament, ate some watermelon, played cards,” Belichick said in a rare flash of actual personality.

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When prodded to reveal if it was spent studying the Jets, Belichick kept up the ruse.

“Totally about the Jets,” he said, “other than the pony rides and canoeing.”

Belichick’s lines were amusing because anyone with a passing knowledge of the NFL knows that every waking second of Belichick’s Wednesday was spent preparing for the 9-2 Patriots’ AFC East showdown Monday night with 9-2 Gang Green.

When you couple the three extra days that playing on Thanksgiving gave Tom Brady to rest up with Belichick’s bonus study time, history says the Jets have little hope of wresting the division lead from New England this week.

How little hope? Since Brady assumed the starting job in 2001, the Patriots are 25-4 (.862) in games in which Belichick and his quarterback had eight or more days to get ready for their opponent.

That figure includes season openers, games immediately after the bye week or Thanksgiving and, of course, the postseason, where Brady led Belichick to three Super Bowl victories in a span of four seasons.

Brady, who has been held out of the first practice of every week before each of the past three games to rest a sore foot, is aware of how well he and the Patriots do on more than the usual six or seven days of preparation time.

From the sound of his comments yesterday, Brady has been spending a lot of time since New England’s rout of the Lions on Thanksgiving next to his coach in the film room studying Ryan’s team.

“I certainly feel like I have a very good idea of what we’re going to see and things that worked for them, things that haven’t worked for them and things that have worked against other teams,” Brady said. “I think we’ve got to prepare for all that. I think that playing them on 11 days [between games] has certainly been a huge benefit for me.”

The numbers certainly back up Brady’s feelings. With the future first-ballot Hall of Fame passer at the helm, the Patriots are 5-0 with eight or more days to prepare since their last loss under those conditions — Super Bowl XLII to the Giants in 2008.

And the Brady factor is crucial. Belichick’s record with more than a week to prepare was woeful before Mo Lewis’ fateful 2001 hit on Drew Bledsoe earned Brady a battlefield promotion and changed the Patriots’ fortunes forever.

As coach of the Browns and Patriots from 1991 up to Bledsoe’s injury, Belichick was just 5-10 (.333) with extra preparation time before handing the reins to Brady.

Considering Belichick is now headed to the Hall of Fame, it was just as amusing to hear the Pats’ stone-faced boss bemoan all the down time yesterday as it was to see him mouth the words “pony rides.”

“It’s been a long time since we’ve played,” Belichick said. “It seems like it’s been several weeks, but it’s only been a few days. Everybody’s really getting right back into the routine here, and we definitely needed to do that.”

bhubbuch@nypost.com