FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Todd Bowles fighting off kidney stones and gall stones to be with his team Saturday should have inspired these Jets.

He is fighting for his job instead.

Muhammad Wilkerson imploring his teammates to play harder for a coach who leaves his hospital bed and flies Saturday morning to face off against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick should have inspired these Jets.

And if you are a member of the Fire Bowles crowd, you were gift-wrapped Christmas Eve ammunition in the form of Patriots 41, Jets 3.

Bowles the man is not 4-11, but Bowles the coach is, and the seat has gotten dramatically hotter now for him.

If this isn’t rock bottom, heaven help him.

And there was poor Bowles, fourth-and-9 with just over six minutes left, opting for the 29-yard Nick Folk field goal to avoid the ignominy of a 41-0 shutout.

Eeesh.

The arrow is not exactly pointing up for him.

If Woody Johnson is looking for an excuse to fire his fourth head coach, he may find it if these nose-diving Jets crash and burn at home next Sunday against Rex Ryan. Unless he already has found it.

Johnson fired Eric Mangini after he lost the 2008 regular-season finale and division title to Chad Pennington and the Dolphins. That was after Mangini’s third season. This is Bowles’ second season.

There is, alas, a bigger issue at play here than Bowles.

This is more a talent issue and a quarterback issue.

These are the Little Sisters of the Poor.

But you can’t fire 53 players, remember.

“I hope he’s back,” David Harris said.

The owner should instruct general manager Mike Maccagnan to back up the truck, starting with Sheldon Richardson if he can get more than a toy Hess truck for him, and keep pounding the pavement for that maddeningly elusive franchise quarterback.

Brady versus the tag team of Bryce Petty (0-for-3, one interception, 0.0 rating) and Ryan Fitzpatrick (two interceptions) became such a sparring session that apparently Bill Belichick felt enough Christmas spirit to summon Jimmy Garoppolo to replace Brady early in the fourth quarter.

Petty, behind a decimated offensive line, didn’t even make it to halftime. And because these are your New York Jets, Petty suffered a dislocated left shoulder making a tackle on Malcolm Butler, who had recovered Khiry Robinson’s fumble.

Bowles is the antithesis of the “Win One for the Gipper” firebrand.

“There is no explanation, we’re playing bad,” Bowles said. “We’re not doing anything right.”

“I don’t think his message, what he said, was even that important to the players,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think it was just the action of him showing up, I think that was what was so important. Because to make the decision to come here and be with us, I think just that action spoke volumes of just kind of the man and the coach that he is.”

The perception, of course, is that the Jets have quit on Bowles.

“We got beat today, we got embarrassed … but there aren’t quitters in this locker room,” Fitzpatrick said.

Well, if they haven’t quit on Bowles, it is painfully obvious there are players who have quit on themselves, and one another. Richardson picking a time like this to lash out at nemesis Brandon Marshall — “He should be embarrassed” — is yet another buyer-beware moment for prospective trade partners for Maccagnan.

“It’s everything,” Marshall said. “Players, coaching, making plays, calling the right plays. … It’s everything.”

Bowles should have stayed in bed.

“There were a lot of guys who were scared,” Marshall said. “I think that’s why he’s been successful and he’s made it this far, is he’s a tough guy, he fought through things as a player, and same as a coach, and it was inspiring. You see a guy in the hospital one day and then the next day he’s fighting his butt off trying to get here. And that’s what we want to accomplish on the football field. No matter the circumstances, no matter the odds, you just want to fight.”

Asked if he was surprised Bowles showed up, Marshall said, “Oh no. I think a lot of us know who he is. … He’s like one of those old souls. … He’ll never tell you if he’s in pain or something’s hurting. I was more surprised that it was so serious, and we didn’t know that.”

Wilkerson spoke to the team about Bowles’ courage and commitment.

“Play for him and play for your brother and be accountable,” Wilkerson told his teammates.

41-3 anyway.

Asked about the effort, Wilkerson said: “It could have been better. That’s all I’m going to say about that.”

Marshall was asked if he was concerned about Bowles’ future.

“When it rains, it pours,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that we don’t have players, it doesn’t mean that our coaches are terrible. … It just means it’s not your season.”

’Tis the season to be jolly. Not, unfortunately, for Todd Bowles.