The Patriots were demolished by the Jets on Thursday Night Football, and the team’s leaders aren’t holding back about how bad of a performance it was.

“It was real tough. Divisional game. Prime time,” safety Jabrill Peppers said. “We came out and got our a– kicked. Plain and simple.”

The Patriots never led. They had one offensive play go for more than 20 yards. Aaron Rodgers sliced and diced the Patriots’ defense, which gave up 400 yards for the first time this season. Their only points came on a field-goal from Joey Slye.

“Not good in any phase of the game,” coach Jerod Mayo said. “I felt like we have a good game X’s and O’s wise, we just didn’t go out there and execute and that’s what it comes down to every Sunday. I told the guys this is NFL football, this is what it is, and we just have to be better.”

Quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who was sacked five times, answered a question about the number of audibles made at the line of scrimmage with brutal honesty.

“It really didn’t come down to the plays,” Brissett said. “It was just like they beat our a– to be honest with you.”

After a pair of competitive games with the Bengals and Seahawks, the Patriots were throttled by a Jets team that finally found a quarterback. Aaron Rodgers did not play in either game the of the season series that the two teams split last year. He skillfully carved up the Patriots’ defense, going 27-for-35 for 281 yards, a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions.

Pair that with an awful showing (7 sacks allowed) from a Patriots offensive line that started two rookies and a player who began the season on the practice squad, and the Patriots found themselves in trouble quickly.

“It was bad. Bad in all phases,” center David Andrews said. “We didn’t play the game how we wanted to play. They dictated what we wanted to do. Hats off to them. They had a good plan and played a lot better than we did tonight, flat out and simple.”

Pass protection continues to be an issue for an offensive line group whose depth continues to grow thinner and thinner.

“We have to do better up front,” Mayo said. “Whether it’s through scheme or whatever we’ve got to reevaluate. The good thing is it’s Thursday, so it’s a mini-bye week where we as coaches can also reset and look at things we do better.”

The Patriots missed more than a dozen tackles. Mayo said he is not happy about that.

“Very uncharacteristic. It’s one of the things I’m very disappointed in as a defensive minded coach,” Mayo said. “The second-level, we struggled all day as far as tackling. Once again, even when we tackled, we hit them in the backfield. It was just the lack of fundamentals, a lack of discipline, and the lack of execution beginning to show up.”

With a little more than a week between this loss and their matchup with San Fransisco next Sunday, the Patriots could use some time to rest and reassess things.

“Right now, I just want the guys to recover,” Linebacker Jahlani Tavai said. “I know we had a few guys get banged up in this game, so I want to make sure that they recover. We’ve all got to look in the mirror and face the reality that we’re 1-2. We’ve got to prepare like we’ve been preparing the past few weeks and just be onto of everything. We’ve got to take accountability for whatever we do.”