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Brady Getting Extra Rest Preparing For 'Critical' Game Against the Jets

BOSTON (CBS) - Usually, you hear stories of a quarterback losing sleep as he worries about that week's opposing defense.

Not Tom Brady though.

With a game against their biggest division rival coming up on Sunday, the Patriots quarterback is making sure he gets a good nights sleep every night leading up to it, even if that means he misses a presidential debate.

Not even something as rare as East Coast earthquake could keep Brady up late this week.

"I felt that; shortly after, I was in bed," Brady said of Tuesday night's tremor during his Wednesday chat with the media. "7:15, I was asleep. Trying to get bright-eyed and bushy-tailed."

Although it's hard to imagine anyone over the age of four falling asleep before 7:30 p.m., Brady probably doesn't want to hear all commentary surrounding his team these days.

Tale Of The Tape: Patriots vs. Jets

The 3-3 Patriots will take on the 3-3 Jets at Gillette on Sunday, a match up of one under-achieving AFC East team against a (somewhat) over-achieving AFC East team. And with the Bills and Dolphins also sitting at 3-3, every game going forward will have some added importance to it.

"At this point and going forward, they're all going to be important. The thing about football is that the next game is always more important than the previous game in the NFL," said Brady. "So a division opponent is critical. We've only played one of those games this year."

The Patriots and Jets are certainly no stranger to each other, but there are a few new wrinkles into the rivalry this time around. The Jets will be without All-Pro corner Darrelle Revis, lost for the season due to a torn ACL. But the New England quarterback isn't expecting Sunday's game to be any easier.

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"We play a team that we know pretty well that always gives us challenges defensively. They're always a very good team," Brady said of the Jets. "They're very much a game plan defense. They're going to try to figure out what they need to do to stop us and we've got to figure out ways to move the ball and really put the ball in the end zone. I think we've done a good job moving the ball this year; it's really just a matter of us getting the ball in the end zone and scoring points."

"They've got a few new faces in there, but this defense presents some great challenges for our offense," said Brady. "It's a great rivalry and it's a fun game for us players. It always has meaning behind it. It's never been a meaningless game, so this one will be no different than that."

Read: Patriots' Dennard Making Case To Start At Corner

While both team have the same record, and sit atop the division, neither really has an idea of who they are this season. Brady says that can't be determined after just six weeks, but rather something they'll be able to tell over time.

"It's week to week. It all depends on how well you play. I mean, it's just that every week is going to be something different," said Brady. "So you can't sit here and say, 'We're the greatest team ever' or 'We're the worst team of all time' or compare this year to last year. We're 3-3. We haven't earned a better record than that. We haven't played well enough and consistently enough to be better than that, but I don't think six games defines a season and I think that what will define our season is what we do over the course of the next 10 weeks."

Tune in to Patriots-Jets on Sunday at 4:25pm on WBZ-TV and 98.5 The Sports Hub. Coverage begins at 11:30am with Patriots GameDay on WBZ-TV, with Patriots Preview beginning at 1pm on 98.5. Following the game, stayed tuned for three hours of post game coverage on The Sports Hub, and Patriots 5th Quarter over on MyTV38!

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