FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — They’re baaack.
The old line from “Poltergeist II: The Other Side” applies to the AFC East.
Like any good horror movie villain, just when you thought the Patriots were dead, they have risen up.
The Jets get to see this new version of the Patriots on Thursday night at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots are 8-2 and riding a seven-game winning streak.
They have been reinvigorated by new coach Mike Vrabel and second-year quarterback Drake Maye.
The Patriots may not be in full Super Bowl mode like the old Belichick/Brady Patriots, but they are in first place and are again a formidable opponent.
“This is going to be a fight,” Jets coach Aaron Glenn said. “It’s going to be a fight, but we welcome the fight, we welcome it. So, [I’m] looking forward to it.”
The Jets had a small window between the Bill Belichick days of dominance and this version of the Patriots, and they were unable to take advantage of the Patriots being down.
Now, they are back up.
Vrabel interviewed with the Jets for their head coaching vacancy in January, two days before the Patriots fired Jerod Mayo, clearing the way to hire Vrabel and leading the Jets to hire Glenn.
While Glenn has hit some speed bumps in his first season with the Jets, Vrabel has had instant impact with a big assist from Maye.
“You can really tell how Vrabel has his fingerprints on how this team operates,” Glenn said. “And again, he did a hell of a job from the offseason, going to get these big-time players [who fit] what he’s trying to do. And not just that, the coaching staff that he brought together.”
The Jets are riding a modest two-game winning streak of their own. They have not won three games in a row since the 2023 season.
“I don’t care if it’s three games, I don’t care if it’s one game, we just want to win. And the more you win, the more confident you get as players, the more confident you get as a team, and that’s the only thing that we care about,” Glenn said.
The Jets beat the Browns last week after trading away stars Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams.
“Give them credit,” Vrabel said, “a lot of teams or people could have been complaining and, ‘Hey, we got rid of one of the best defensive linemen in the league and a corner,’ and everything else. That didn’t show up at all. I saw an energy. I saw excitement that jumped off the screen. So, this will be a challenge. I know they’ll be ready to go on the road, we’ll have to continue to prepare, and then ultimately play well.”
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