INDIANAPOLIS — Knowing the best time for an NFL team to have bye is not an exact science. Some coaches would rather have it at the midway point in the season while others prefer a later date.

For the Indianapolis Colts, the bye allowed the team’s coaching staff to self-evaluate the previous nine games and to look ahead to the remainder of the regular season. And it gave the players a chance to get away for a few days and re-charge their batteries a bit.

“Everybody had the opportunity to get away for a little bit with the bye week,” Colts head coach Chuck Pagano said. “We took a good, hard look at ourselves.

“The players, obviously, had a chance to hit the reset button and re-charge, rest, spend time with the family, spend time looking at tape, spend time looking at the next opponent. The coaches did the same thing. It was good. Got back to work and it will be fore bore on Wednesday.”

The Colts and their opponent this week, the New England Patriots, are coming off bye weeks. And both teams had time to tweak things, scheme-wise, heading into Sunday night’s nationally-televised game.

For the Colts, finding a way to slow down tight end Rob Gronkowski will be paramount. Gronkowski has been on a roll of late and Indianapolis has had issues in covering quality tight ends in recent games.

“That’s one of the things we took a look at (during the bye),” Pagano said. “We’ve got to figure out a way to slow him down. He’s obviously a game-wrecker. He’s hurt us in the past. He’s hurt everybody. He’s a great player and we’ve got to find a way to slow him down.”

And then there’s Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

“He’s one of the best of all time,” the Colts coach said.

New England head coach Bill Belichick always presents a challenge as he has been known to change up his own team’s offensive and defensive tendencies in order to attack an opponent’s weak spot.

“They find a way to game plan everybody. I’m sure they’re going to find a way to take away our game wreckers and make us bat them left-handed, so to speak,” Pagano said. “If you’ve read the same stuff that I’ve read and watched it, it’s about as good as it gets.”

NOTES: S LaRon Landry is coming off a four-game suspension for PED violation, but how much he plays Sunday night depends on his stamina. Sergio Brown will remain the starter. … DT Art Jones (ankle) and OLB Erik Walden (quad) worked on the sidelines Monday. … OLB Josh McNary (ankle) is expected to be available Sunday night if he passes muster Friday.