So the natural question is: will Bill Belichick take this opportunity to rest any of his players?

It also means that the Patriots’ final regular-season game, on Sunday against the Bills, is largely meaningless, at least when it comes to postseason standings.

FOXBOROUGH – The Bengals’ (somewhat surprising, if we’re being honest) win over the Broncos on Monday night gave the Patriots the top overall seed in the AFC playoffs, meaning they will be at home throughout the playoffs.

If you were looking for a detailed answer on Tuesday morning at Belichick’s press conference, you weren’t going to get one. In times like these, Belichick has but one consideration.


“We’ll do the same thing we always do, so it won’t be any different this week than it’s been any other week, it won’t be any different this year than it’s been any other year: we’ll do what we feel is best for our football team. Period. Whatever is best for our team, then that’s what we’ll try to do,” Belichick said when asked if he’ll manage players’ reps this week, even in practice.

Given his reaction to the performance of the New England offense against the Jets on Sunday – he was none too pleased – it would be a surprise to see a lot of those players held back against Buffalo. The Bills might not offer as many different looks as the Jets do, but they still have a strong defensive line, and a good opportunity for the offensive line to tighten things up in a game situation before the Patriots have to wait out the wild-card playoffs and see who they’ll host in the divisional round.

Belichick of course noted the Bills’ strengths in his opening statement. Offensively they look a bit different than they did when the teams met in October – that game was Kyle Orton’s second start at quarterback. In the weeks since, Belichick indicated, Buffalo’s offense has been tailored more to Orton’s strengths as a quarterback.


On defense, the Bills have “all the things we know about,” Belichick said.

“Great pass rush, lead the league in pass rush, lead the league in third down, right at the top of the league in turnovers, so they turn the ball over, they hit the quarterback, they convert on third down, haven’t given up many big plays, right at the top of the league in that category, so coach (Jim) Schwartz has done a real good job with that unit.

“Big challenge for us Sunday, all the way across the board. They beat the Jets handily in both games, beat Green Bay, played very competitively in the Denver game on the road. Good football team, well-coached, tough, physical. We had our hands full with them up there, and I’m sure we will Sunday too.”

So Belichick is doing his best to keep his team focused on this week, and not the postseason.

Asked one more time about preparing his club for the playoffs, Belichick got philosophical.

“All I know is what I do, what I’ve done. I’ve been doing this for 40 years, been fortunate to be in a lot of these postseason situations over that period of time, some as a head coach, some as an assistant coach, watching other people, observing.

“Every single day and every single week and every single year, that’s all I try to do. The answer to every question really is the same, based on the information, based on the situation: always try to do what’s best for the team.”


Related coverage:

• Christopher L. Gasper: Ideas on fixing NFL playoff format could be winners

• On football: Patriots prevailed over Jets, but their roles seemed reversed

• Bill Belichick not pleased with Patriots’ many mistakes vs. Jets

• After narrow win, how do you like Patriots’ chances?

Follow Shalise Manza Young on Twitter at @shalisemyoung.