Bledsoe On Gresh & Zo: Patriots 'We're All Accustomed To' Should Return Against Jets
BOSTON (CBS) - Patriots Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Bledsoe joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Gresh & Zolak on Friday to preview this weekend's match-up between the Patriots and Jets.
Tom Brady had a very off week in Seattle, with a pair of interceptions and some uncharacteristic mistakes in the 24-23 loss. But Bledsoe expects the New England quarterback to bounce back big on Sunday.
"You play quarterback in the NFL you're going to have bad games; it happens to everybody, no matter who you are," said Bledsoe. "The one thing that you've seen from Tom over the course of his career, I don't know if he's ever had two bad ones in a row. That's the important part of playing the game."
Gresh & Zo: Patriots Need To Make Statement On Sunday
"I think you'll see a very good performance from him this week against the Jets. I think you'll see the Patriots team we're all accustomed to watching in terms of how they conduct themselves in-game situations. I think it will be a really good week for New England," he added.
"It wouldn't surprise me at all to see the Patriots come out and win this one by quite a bit," said Bledsoe. "If they can build an early lead and force the jest into a style of play they aren't good at, this could get out of hand. And that's what I expect… it's a chance for them to show that championship character."
Read: Patriots-Jets Preview
The Jets offense put up 35 points against the Indianapolis Colts last weekend thanks to a 161-yard, three touchdown day from running back Shonne Greene. While the Jets love to pound the ball on the ground, setting up play action, Bledsoe doesn't think that game plan will bode well for New York against the Patriots.
"It's pretty obvious, you need to throw the ball down field. The (New England) front seven is playing well but the secondary is struggling," said Bledsoe. "It's the type of defense that if you're going to attack them you want to take some shots down the field. You want to get the ball down the field and see if you can get a quick score, rather than methodically trying to march the ball down the field."
"It'll be interesting to see their approach. If I'm them I'm going some hard play-action on 1st and 2nd down and trying to pick up big chunks, and then getting back to the running game," he said.
Bledsoe also commented on the Sanchez-Tim Tebow situation, where any time Sanchez makes a mistake there is a call for Tebow to take over. It's not a great situation to be in, but Bledsoe had some advice for Sanchez to tune it out.
"The minute they picked up Tebow everyone knew it would be a difficult situation for Mark, and it's played out exactly that way. The only way to approach it honestly is to immerse yourself in the football," he said. "There's a therapeutic effect to spending a lot of time watching film, diving into only what you can control, which is the football side of it. If you let yourself get caught up in the circus that's surrounding you, that's when you can get yourself in trouble."
"That's how I always approached it," he said. "If you focus just on preparing for that game, you can drowned out a lot of the other stuff because your mind is preoccupied getting ready for that game."
