Brett Favre

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) ― Shaun Ellis saw the reporters gathered near his locker and knew what they wanted to ask him.

"Every time Patriots week comes, you all come in and spoil the vibe," the New York Jets defensive end said Monday.

Yep, the Jets are preparing to play their rivals at New England on Thursday, with the winner assuming control in the AFC East.

"This is a huge game," running back Thomas Jones said. "It's a divisional rival, first of all. It has a lot of implications as far as who's going to be in sole possession of first place in the division, which leads into other things as the season goes along. It's a really big game for us and we really look forward to it."

The Jets reported to work Monday still sore after beating St. Louis 47-3 on Sunday for the largest margin of victory in franchise history. Sure, there was time to celebrate, but not much.

"The game was yesterday and it's over," said Jones, who had three touchdown runs. "We have a short week, have to get ready for a big game against New England. That's our main focus. We had a couple of walkthroughs today, guys got in the cold tub, worked out and tried to get some of the soreness out for the game."

Coach Eric Mangini liked what he saw from his team after watching a little bit of tape of its dominant performance against the Rams, in which New York led 40-0 after two quarters. The win came a week after the Jets won a satisfying divisional game at Buffalo 26-17.

"It was another complete game," Mangini said. "I really liked the way we responded in the second half in terms of going into halftime with a big lead, being able to come out and maintain the tempo that we had established, maintaining the intensity we had established."

The defense forced five turnovers against the Rams and the offense turned them into 27 points.

"It went our way," defensive end Kenyon Coleman said. "I'm sure the Rams didn't think that was going to happen to them, so sometimes it just goes your way."

It hasn't gone the Jets' way recently against the Patriots. Since beating New England twice in 2000, New York is 3-13 in the series, including four straight losses.

"Really, to me, I'm tired of hearing it myself," said Ellis, a member of the Jets since 2000. "I've been hearing it for years. I'm sick of it right now. We'll see. It's a short week, we'll get a lot of mental work and go up there and put it all on the line. That's what we've got to do."

Ellis grew slightly agitated when asked about the Jets' struggles against their rivals.

"We don't need to be constantly reminded everytime we play this team how bad we've been against them," Ellis said. "We're trying to get it fixed. Hopefully, we can get it done this week."

In the teams' first meeting this season in Week 2, Matt Cassel led the Patriots to a 19-10 victory in his first start at any level since high school.

"After that game, it was disappointing, but we knew we had to keep moving on," Ellis said. "One thing I remember people saying in that locker room after the game was, 'We'll have another shot.' Here's our opportunity, so we have to go out and get a win in their home stadium."

Cornerback Darrelle Revis thinks the Jets defense has come a long way since that first meeting.

"Week 2, it was horrible," he said. "Now, things are clicking and guys are feeding into the system."

With Kris Jenkins manning the middle of the Jets' defensive line, New York has become one of the league's toughest defenses, ranking 10th overall and fifth against the run. The defense has also forced eight turnovers in its last two games.

"We're coming off two big wins the past few weeks and made a lot of big plays in those games," Revis said. "We're just trying to feed off that energy, the turnovers we're making and guys scoring on defense."

The defense needs to play a huge role again if the Jets have plans of beating New England. Cassel has seven touchdowns and seven interceptions, but efficiently manages a dink-and-dunk offense that moves the ball down the field and tires out defenders.

"We've just got to go up there and play sound," Ellis said. "They've always got the edge, got the turnovers, beat us on the fundamental things always. That's one thing we've got to flip, don't give them those easy plays, those easy turnovers and just make it a grind-out game."

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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