FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — If laser-beam stares and zipped lips translate into touchdowns and defensive stops, the Jets are in big trouble Sunday.
Humorless Bill Belichick has never been a fan of his team providing bulletin-board material, but the so-called “Patriot Way” is being put into overdrive this week with New England so obviously intent on avenging last January’s AFC playoff loss to Gang Green.
“You ain’t going to hear nothing from us, that’s for damn sure,” a veteran player told The Post under his breath Wednesday. “Boss’ orders.”
That would be a not-so-subtle reference to Belichick, who has struck fear even in veterans usually unafraid to speak their minds by making it clear he expects little more than name, rank and serial number be given to reporters this week.
Chad Ochocinco — one of the most opinionated and flamboyant players in the sport — hasn’t showed his face to the media during the daily media sessions while conveniently claiming a lost bet is keeping him off Twitter for the rest of the month.
Wes Welker, so famously benched in the playoff loss for mocking Rex Ryan’s alleged foot fetish, also has been a ghost to reporters this week. The same goes for fellow wide receiver Deion Branch.
But perhaps the best example of the Patriots’ steely focus heading into this weekend’s matchup at Gillette Stadium was normally light-hearted Tom Brady gritting his teeth through a news conference Wednesday that he stormed out of after just five minutes due to one too many questions about Antonio Cromartie.
The same record-setting quarterback who as recently as this summer described the playoff loss to the Jets as the worst of his storied career suddenly came down with near-amnesia about it this week.
“That was a long time ago, so that game doesn’t have much bearing on this week,” Brady said. “We’re a different team.”
Belichick set the tone publicly on Wednesday, claiming with a straight face just three days after Rex Ryan’s team was completely dismantled by Baltimore on national TV that the Jets “look good, as they always do.”
Belichick also did not deny telling his team to keep its collective mouth shut when asked about the Patriots’ notable silence.
“We try to focus on what we need to do to beat the Jets,” Belichick said when asked if he had issued a gag order. “That’s what we’re here for. I mean, what else is there to talk about?”
An even more obvious example of Belichick’s commentary crackdown has been the continued disappearing act of Branch. The veteran wideout, who had blasted the Jets as classless immediately after the playoff loss for dancing and mimicking jet landings on the Patriots’ field, told The Post in August his teammates hadn’t forgotten those incidents.
Branch also mocked the Jets in that interview with The Post for being too giddy about winning a playoff game that wasn’t the Super Bowl, but he continues to show no interest in adding to those comments this week.
The three former Jets now on the Patriots — defensive end Shaun Ellis, defensive back James Ihedigbo and running back Danny Woodhead — appear to have been given even stricter marching orders to avoid riling up their old team.
Both Ellis and Ihedigbo claimed rather unconvincingly that facing the Jets added no extra motivation, with Ellis even describing his former club as “just another team to me.” Woodhead, meanwhile, has been absent from media sessions all week, although that’s more likely because he is missing practice due to injury.
Part of the reason for Brady’s seriousness was blowback from a comment he made before the Patriots’ home game last month with San Diego that fans “start drinking early. Get nice and rowdy. It’s a 4:15 game, a lot of time to get lubed up.”
Asked if he had similar advice this week, Brady snarled.
“I’m not joking anymore,” he said.
The same goes for everyone else in a Patriots hoodie or uniform this week.