NFL

Winslow gets another familiar face

Kellen Winslow only played one game for the Patriots last season before requesting his release. The Jets tight end attributed his short tenure there to unfortunate timing.

“It was real good there. Just wrong timing,” Winslow said Tuesday. “Tom Brady’s the best, one of the best I’ve ever seen. The way he leads that team is phenomenal. You understand why they are who they are — because of Tom Brady.

“But it just was wrong timing. Rob Gronkowski was there. Wes Welker was there. Aaron Hernandez was coming back real soon from injury. It was just wrong timing. But right team, wrong time.”

This will be the second straight week Winslow will be facing a former team of his. He spent three seasons with the Buccaneers from 2009-11. Winslow had a terrific Jets debut against Tampa Bay in Sunday’s win, catching seven passes for 79 yards and a touchdown.

“I’ve got a lot more to go. I haven’t really done anything yet,” he said. “It’s one game. I have a long way to go.”

If the Patriots play without Shane Vereen (placed on short-term injured reserve), Gronkowski (limited in practice Tuesday) and Danny Amendola (limited), how compromised is their offense?

“It’s not,” Jets linebacker Garrett McInytre said. “You’ve got Tom Brady back there, man.”

McIntyre added of the Patriots offense, “It’s different because you’ve got different guys. But they’re still a well-oiled machine.”

On a conference call with New York reporters, Brady not surprisingly expressed faith in whomever is with him on Thursday.

“I have a lot of confidence in the guys we’re playing with,” he said.

Santonio Holmes, who played through a foot injury in Week 1 after not playing in the preseason, said “I survived” when asked how his season debut went.

Despite catching just one pass for 13 yards in his first game since Week 4 last season, Holmes said the coaches gave him the team’s highest wide receiver grade for his performance.

Holmes, Winslow (knee), TE Jeff Cumberland (chin), DT Kenrick Ellis (back), C Nick Mangold (elbow) and DT Sheldon Richardson (shoulder) were all limited in Tuesday’s practice.

The Jets have re-signed WR Ben Obomanu, presumably because Jeremy Kerley’s concussion means he is likely out against the Patriots. Kerley was terrific against New England last year, hauling in 14 catches for 206 yards in two games.

Obomanu, who was in training camp with the Jets, has 87 catches in 66 career games, all with Seattle.