FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – No matter how many times and how many different ways the question was asked yesterday, Bill Belichick wasn’t taking the bait.
One day after hapless Steelers safety Anthony Smith gave his unbeaten Patriots more than enough ammunition to deliver a 34-13 pounding here, Belichick wasn’t going to do the same for the Jets this week.
Listening to the notoriously closed-mouthed Belichick, you would think this Sunday’s “Spygate” grudge match with the Jets was just another game on the unbeaten Patriots’ schedule.
Never mind that Belichick was fined $500,000 and the Patriots docked $250,000 and a 2008 first-round pick for videotaping the Jets’ defensive signals at Giants Stadium during New England’s 38-14 win on Sept. 9.
“We’re going to approach it like every other game,” Belichick said of the Jets matchup after the Patriots improved to 13-0 and guaranteed themselves a first-round AFC playoff bye with a lopsided throttling of the Steelers.
Asked if the fallout from the season-opening incident had affected the rest of the year on a personal level, Belichick pursed his lips angrily.
“I’m telling you that we’re going to approach this game like we’ve approached the last one and the one before that,” he said. “That’s all I can tell you.”
Belichick’s players weren’t the least bit surprised by his reluctance to talk about the Jets or how his relationship with longtime understudy Eric Mangini was blown to bits by the controversy.
“Belichick does a good job of keeping us focused on what’s most important and what has meaning,” said tight end Kyle Brady, a former No. 1 pick by the Jets. “He never wants us to escalate the meaning of one game.”
Wideout Jabar Gaffney wasn’t the only one in the New England camp who refused to vow that the Patriots – who opened as 27-point favorites – plan to pile it on the 3-10 Jets for ratting out their coach.
Offensive tackle Matt Light said he’ll be able to tune out the noise this week because, “I have bad hearing,” and he insisted with a straight face that Sunday’s matchup is no bigger than any Patriots-Jets matchup.
“It’s two teams in the same division that are very familiar with each other, so that’s all you need right there,” Light said. “There’s no extra motivation from (‘Spygate’). It’s a game with the Jets, so there’s always motivation.”