NFL

Rex to Jets: Tell your wives no chores during Patriots week

Jets players’ “Honey Do” lists are going to get a little long this week.

It is Patriots week for the Jets and coach Rex Ryan gave the team its orders Wednesday: stay off your feet and leave the household chores until next week. So expect a lot of dirty dishes, overflowing garbage cans and big piles of laundry around the homes of the Jets this week.

“He was like, ‘Rest your legs, you go home, don’t do nothing for your wife,” newly signed kick returner Josh Cribbs said. “Say ‘baby, next week. I’m going to take out the trash next week. I’ll take the kids to practice next week because I got to rest for this game.’ I’m going to tell him to put it on paper so when I give it to my wife I’m like, ‘Hey, Rex said that I don’t have to take out the trash.’ He might get a call from my wife.”

Some interpreted that to mean Ryan was telling the team not to have sex this week. One reporter even told Cribbs he thought he was implying something else, and Cribbs replied, “you all are silly.” Later, Ryan clarified he was not telling his players to abstain.

The Jets have lost five straight to Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, including five weeks ago. All of that has given the Jets a heightened sense of desperation this week as they try to avoid falling three games behind the Patriots in the AFC East before Halloween even arrives.

Ryan made sure in the team meeting Wednesday to tell his players their focus better be on the Patriots and nowhere else.

“I saw it in his eyes in the team meeting,” said Cribbs, who most recently played with the Browns before the Jets signed him Tuesday. “It’s equivalent to a Cleveland-Pittsburgh game. They really get up for it. The fans get up for it and I see how important it is for the Jets to win. This is a division game. We play them twice and I can tell he really wants this game.”

Josh Cribbs and his wife MariaMaria Cribbs on Instagram

Ryan was defensive a few times with reporters Wednesday about his team’s performance against the Patriots. Ryan has not notched a win over his rivals since the 2010 playoffs. But the Jets had some success a month ago against the Patriots and lost 13-10. Brady had one of his worst statistical games that night, completing 19-of-39 for 185 yards and one touchdown, and was visibly upset with his receivers.

When Ryan was asked about Brady not being on the same page with his receivers that night, he implied he felt the Jets defense did not get enough credit for frustrating Brady.

“It has nothing to do with us,” Ryan said. “I understand. We were just out there. Certainly that was well-reported and all that. We’ll get to see. We’ll see if some of those issues exist this week.”

Later in the day, Ryan got testy on a conference call with reporters who cover the Patriots. He was asked about losing five in a row and whether that means he has been “kissing Bill Belichick’s rings lately,” referring to Ryan’s quote from 2009.

“No, I haven’t. Maybe you have, but I haven’t, and I never will,” he said. “I came here to beat him and to win, and to win our own championship rings and all that type of stuff. Again, hey, the facts are we’ve lost five in a row to them and things like that. We’ll see if it’s six in a row.”

After that, he was asked about his defensive approach against Brady.

“Well apparently I do a terrible job of it because we’ve lost five in a row, so I don’t know,” Ryan said. “Maybe we’ll just have somebody else look at it.”

It looks as if Brady again will be without some of his main weapons. Wide receiver Danny Amendola has a concussion and tight end Rob Gronkowski’s status remains uncertain. Jets guard Willie Colon watched the Patriots’ comeback win over the Saints on Sunday and said he saw the old Brady.

“He’s starting to get his swagger back, no matter who’s out there,” Colon said. “It’s going to be tough for us. We just have to match it.”

There are only a few members of the Jets left from the 2010 team, so many have never beaten the Patriots.

“It’s frustrating a lot,” defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson, who was drafted in 2011, said. “The last two years, I’ve been playing these guys around my birthday [Oct. 22], and I keep having a bad birthday. Tom Brady keeps making it bad for me.”