FOXBORO — Josh Gordon probably watches Tom Brady take Antonio Brown aside at practice to show him what he’s expecting on certain routes, and it brings a smile to his face.

He’s amused by all the side sessions, because he was that guy last year getting all the 1-on-1 instruction after being traded to the Patriots from Cleveland. Gordon was on the receiving end of Brady’s lectures, trying to get up to speed with the offense.

While he’s still learning, Gordon is so far ahead of where he was last season. Speaking at his locker Thursday, moments before Brown took center stage with the media, Gordon talked about his increased comfort level.

“Last year was kind of on the fly. I got traded into the season. I had to pick it up as I was going along. With an injury at the same time, it was a lot to take on,” he said. “This year, I have more familiarity with it. I got extra time in the offseason to study what I already knew. Then when I got in here, I was able to pick it up where I left off, and even better, I would say. So it’s pretty smooth right now.”

Gordon, who was on indefinite leave on the Commissioner’s Exempt list until being reinstated, studied the playbook during his down time, and had some private time working with Brady, which helped his development.

He looked pretty smooth in the season opener against the Steelers, with three catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. With Brown in the offense for the first time last week in Miami it wasn’t quite as fluid, and Gordon was a bit out of sorts, catching just two passes for 19 yards.

He’s looking to improve Sunday against a Jets team that currently is ranked 23rd in the league against the pass, allowing 273.5 passing yards per game. The Jets are lacking in terms of a pass rush and top NFL cover corners. It’s a deadly double. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, however, still has his defense play aggressively.

“They play aggressive. They like to play downhill. Gregg’s a tough coach, I know he expects those guys to play fast and play hard,” Gordon said. “He’s got that (modus operandi). We’re expecting that. We’re expecting that from the players.”

Jets coach Adam Gase wasn’t looking forward to trying to contain Gordon, or the rest of the Patriots receiving corps.

“He looks as good as he’s ever looked. I mean he looks big to me, like in a good way,” Gase said on a conference call. “He looks like he’s in really good shape and he’s one of those guys, man. You do everything you can to just try to contain him. It’s extremely hard, especially with the crew that they have.”

Told of Gase’s remarks with regard to his size, and looking bigger on film, Gordon said it wasn’t a concentrated effort on his part to expand his 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame.

“It just happened,” he said. “I’ve always been big. In pads, you’re going to look even bigger. More importantly, it’s about how fast I can get away.”

Brady moving fine, still limited

Brady, who popped up on the injury report Wednesday with a calf problem, looked fine during the media portion of practice. The Patriots quarterback didn’t have noticeable limp, jogging and moving around without issue.

At one point during warmups, he took Brown aside and appeared to be demonstrating what he expected on a certain route. Brady physically planted, turned, and showed Brown exactly what he was looking for.

Even though Brady looked none the worse for wear, he still was listed on the injury report and limited in practice. So it remains something to monitor.

Missing from practice once again were fullback James Develin, who is listed with a neck injury, and defensive end Shilique Calhoun, whose absence isn’t injury related.

Defense streak

The Patriots defense hasn’t surrendered a touchdown during the first two games of the season. It’s three games going back to Super Bowl LIII.

How much pride does the unit take in limiting opponents and keeping them from scoring?

“Bill talks about it every week. Our goal is points. If you don’t give up points, you can’t lose. You won’t lose. You have a chance to win every game,” safety Devin McCourty said. “I think defensively, that’s always our mindset, not giving up points, if teams get in the red area, making them kick three. We always stick with those goals. For us, it’s all about consistency, trying to play well, each game, each play, understanding the situation. Those are things we’re going to continue to work on and that’s what we talk about each day.”