Jets coach Rex Ryan is convinced if you cut Tom Brady open, you would find screws, springs and sprockets inside the Patriots quarterback.
“He’s a machine back there,” Ryan said yesterday.
Call him the Tominator.
Brady has haunted the Jets since Mo Lewis knocked Drew Bledsoe out of a game in 2001 and ushered in the Brady era. He is 17-5 against the Jets as a starter and might be playing as well as he ever has. Over his last four games, Brady has 11 touchdowns and no interceptions.
While Ryan joked about Brady being a machine he then pointed out that he is anything but with the way the Patriots feed off his leadership and emotion.
“He’s passionate and a fiery leader and all that type of stuff,” Ryan said. “You wish he was just a machine. But his competitive side elevates his team as well. That’s what you get in those once-in-a-generation type quarterbacks. He’s just a special guy.”
The Jets get their next crack at Brady tomorrow night. Ryan’s Jets beat Brady three times in his first two years but have lost the last three meetings.
Making things tougher for the Jets is this the time of year when Brady and the Patriots are at their best. Over the last three seasons, the Patriots are 18-0 in the second half of the season. Brady has a QB rating of 118.0 in the second half since 2010 and has thrown 46 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
The Patriots’ seasons have become predictable. They stumble every year in September and October with a few losses and everyone begins to question whether their reign is over. Then November and December come and they go on their run.
“Good teams get better as the season goes on,” Ryan said. “That’s a team [that’s] well coached. There’s new parts each year on different teams. Sometimes it takes a little longer to get those guys together. A lot of times your really good teams will start taking off at the end. … A lot of times those teams will separate themselves.”
The Jets know it starts with Brady. Even without favorite target Rob Gronkowski, who broke his arm Sunday, the Patriots quarterback will find a way to attack the Jets’ defense.
“He never seems uncomfortable or rattled in any way,” said safety Yeremiah Bell, who has faced Brady many times with the Dolphins. “The thing we want to do is make him hold the ball for a second or a couple of seconds longer just to give our guys time to get there.”
When the Jets and Patriots met last month, the Jets defense played well until the end of the 29-26 loss in overtime. Brady struggled before leading the Patriots 54 yards on six plays to set up a field goal to force overtime. In overtime, he led the team 54 yards on 12 plays for the game-winning field goal.
“When it mattered most, he delivered and they got the victory,” Ryan said. “We know each other so well. We know enough of Tom Brady that if he knows exactly what [alignment] you are in then you are in trouble. You’ve got to make adjustments. You’ve got to be multiple. That’s hard to do.”
That loss still stings the Jets defense.
“We made it kind of easy on him at the end of the game, I think,” Bell said. “We blew some assignments that kind of gave up big plays there.”
The Jets get another shot tomorrow night. In Ryan’s first three years as head coach, Brady and the Patriots have won the second meeting of the year each time by an average of 26.7 points.
Here comes The Brady Machine. Will Ryan stop it or get run over?
brian.costello@nypost.com