FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Following his team’s 37-22 win over the Bills in Buffalo on Sunday, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick told his team in the postgame locker room at Ralph Wilson Stadium that it was, “Wednesday.”

Belichick wasn’t confused. He was simply trying to get his Patriots (4-2) team on track for Thursday night’s meeting in Foxborough with the struggling New York Jets (1-5). He was emphasizing the short work week and turnaround, one that puts a clear stress on players – both physically and mentally.

So while it was indeed Sunday night and time to celebrate a victory, Belichick was turning the page to the work ahead and another division battle.

One of the biggest challenges of a condensed work week, which included walk-through practices, was deciding which information was important to address regarding New York and which could be eliminated.

There is a familiarity between the two teams and coaching staffs, which helps, but there is the danger of trying to do too much in too short a time.

“I think that’s one of the big challenges for us as a coaching staff is to try to find the sweet spot,” Belichick said of avoiding ‘paralysis by analysis.’ “The Jets are, as we know, a big game plan team. They change things from week to week in all three phases of the game: offense, defense, special teams. They have specific things that they run against a team and then you may not see those things for a while or they may come back at a later point in time. So you have to be aware of them and cover them, but at the same time that may not be what they did against you, what they did last week or what they did the last two or three weeks.

“We obviously have a long history with the Jets. We’ve seen all their games this year. We had all their games last year, the year before, all the matchups we’ve had against them. There’s enough information on them to keep us busy for a month or six weeks. But we need to boil that down and get it into certainly a manageable amount of information. We have to, somewhere along the line, put our chips on what we’re going to do and we can’t worry about every single thing they’ve ever done or what could happen or we’d be here forever.”

The Jets may be struggling through a tough first half and certainly have limitations on offense. But quarterback Tom Brady his unit have to prepare for a defense that is ranked sixth in the NFL overall, eighth against the run and third in sacks per pass play.

Some of that has to do with impressive talent up front such as Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson. Some of it has to do with the variety of schemes and blitzes Jets coach Rex Ryan can throw at an offense.

“There’s a ton of information, especially this team,” Brady said of dealing with the short week. “They have every blitz in the book. They have every coverage and scheme and front. We just have to do to do your best to prepare for as much as you can. You have to balance your rest with your preparation but it’s all football – yesterday, today, tomorrow, Thursday night and then after that there’s obviously a little bit more time but you have to put everything you can in.”

Brady has had some great days against the Jets and some less than stellar performances. He’s 7-3 against Ryan and his defense. He’s had days like his four-touchdown, 148.9 passer rating in a 2010 win, as well as a 53.5 rating with no touchdowns and one interception in last October’s 13-10 overtime loss.

Coming off his best two performances of the season in emotional wins over the Bengals and Bills, Brady and the New England offense are seemingly starting to hit stride. To keep that momentum rolling they’ll have to manage a short work week to prepare for another battle with Ryan’s defense in what is forecast to be a heavy rain.

“We have to keep trying to make improvements, do a better job,” Brady said. “This defense tests a lot of things. They really put a lot of pressure on you in a lot of ways: their front, coverages, scheme. They kind of do it all. There’s a lot to prepare for. To do it on three days is a lot but they’re dealing with the same stuff. We’ve had a good couple days. We need a good couple more days and then let it rip on Thursday night.”

SERIES HISTORY: 108th regular-season meeting. Patriots lead series, 54-52-1. Dating back to the days of the AFL, New England and New York have battled through bitter rivalry. Coming to be known as the Border War after Bill Parcells bolted to the Jets in the mid-1990s and building steam as Belichick took over in New England in 2000, there is a true hatred between these two teams. The Patriots had won five straight in the series until last season’s overtime loss in November, New York’s’ first victory since upsetting the Patriots in Foxborough in the playoffs after the 2010 season. Ryan has had his moments, much like Belichick-disciple Eric Mangini before him, but New England has certainly had the upper hand more often than not in the Tom Brady era.

MEDICAL WATCH: OL Dan Connolly has not practiced this week due to the concussion suffered against the Bills. The offensive line captain has a history of concussions. … DB Nate Ebner did not practice this week. The special teams ace has missed the last two games with a finger injury. … OL Cameron Fleming (finger) has not practiced this week after missing the last two weeks of action to the injury. … OL Bryan Stork has not practiced this week due to the concussion he suffered in practice last Thursday. … QB Tom Brady has been limited in practice due to the ankle injury he suffered last Friday in practice. Brady reportedly needed “a lot of therapy” in order to get on the field and play Sunday in Buffalo. … CB Brandon Browner has been limited in practice this week with an ankle injury that forced him to miss last week’s game against the Bills. The veteran cornerback has yet to play a game after sitting out the first four weeks to a league suspension, but is expected to suit up Thursday night against New York. … LB Jamie Collins continues to be limited in practice with a knee injury. … DL Dominque Easley continues to be limited in practice with knee and shoulder issues, the latter of which kept him out of action last Sunday in Buffalo. … LB Dont’a Hightower remained limited in practice with the knee injury that’s forced him to miss the last two games. … DE Chandler Jones was limited again this week with a shoulder injury. … S Devin McCourty was limited in practice this week with the rib injury suffered two weeks ago against the Bengals that saw him more than a half of action. The veteran returned and played his regular role last Sunday in Buffalo. … WR Matthew Slater continues to be listed as limited with a shoulder injury, but he played his normal role on special teams last Sunday against the Bills.

GAME PLAN: The Patriots passing attack seems to be hitting its midseason stride as Brady, Rob Gronkowski and others are putting up numbers like many expected heading into the season. The Jets have a major shortage of talent at cornerback and aside from a decent pass rush, the New York pass defense is quite susceptible at this point.

Assuming the rain and storms that are forecast for Foxborough on Thursday night aren’t enough to alter Brady’s ability to throw, the Patriots should come out in full attack mode with the passing game. Having lost Ridley to a knee injury, the running game is going to be an afterthought. Vereen may get some situational production, but against a stout run front the Patriots will certainly be looking to spread the Jets out and get things going through the air.

That, of course, means the Patriots must block a Jets front that has notched 19 sacks in six games, ranking third in the NFL in sacks per pass play at this point. That is no certainty behind an offensive line that has not only struggled but could see even more changes in personnel due to mounting injuries.

Defensively, the Patriots pass defense is beginning to find its identity with Darrelle Revis matching up with opposing top targets the last two weeks. If that holds true, the veteran could see a lot of Eric Decker against his former team.

Up front defensively, the Patriots will be working to overcome the loss of Mayo but should get Donta’ Hightower back to be the play-caller and veteran leader. New York’s offense has been pretty putrid, having scored more than 20 points just once this season. If the Patriots run defense, which has been inconsistent, can slow down Chris Ivory, who is averaging 4.9 yards a carry as the top ball-carrier, then the pass rush can get after Geno Smith, who has a 69 passer rating.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

New England S Patrick Chung vs. New York rookie TE Jace Amaro – Chung and the rest of the middle of the Patriots pass defense have struggled against opposing tight ends for a long time. That was on full display in Buffalo as Scott Chandler notched six catches for 105 yards. Amaro is the Jets’ leading receiver with 24 catches in six games, including one touchdown. Look for New York to try to attack the middle of the Patriots secondary with Amaro and others until New England can prove it can stop action in the middle.

Patriots DE Rob Ninkovich vs. Jets QB Geno Smith – Ninkovich leads the Patriots with four sacks coming off a three-sack performance in Buffalo. The veteran has had a knack for big plays against New York over the years. He’s also the best New England rusher dealing with athletic quarterbacks like Smith. Ninkovich should have a chance to keep Smith bottle up and make plays in his matchup with Jets RT Breno Giacomini.