Only a couple of weeks ago, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, responding to a question about whether he watched the “Hard Knocks’’ show, said he refused to do so because he “hates’’ the Jets.

Asked today about that hate, Brady said, “I will say I have respect for the Jets because I think they play extremely hard and they are very well-coached. It’s just the way the rivalry is. I don’t think there’re a lot of Boston people who like New York people. The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry goes back a long ways.

“Over the years, there’ve have been very competitive football games played between the two of us.’’

Brady conceded that the intensity between the two teams “gets ratcheted up,’’ adding, “When you are out there playing against these guys, there’s a certain level of intensity that these rivalries bring out. And it’s not just another game for us. They’re a division opponent.

“We know how hard it is playing a division opponent on the road. We’ve gotten off to a good start last week. Coach (Bill Belichick) said we’ll have to play a better game than we did last week and I agree with him.’’

Asked about the Jets constant talk about their Super Bowl run, Brady said, “How can you not hear it? Of course we hear it. We just go about our business a different way, and a way that has worked for us.

“Every coach has their style. And we really take on the style of our head coach, who, as you guys know, doesn’t say much. So we typically don’t say much. And when we do, we get yelled at pretty good. That doesn’t seem that’s the program the Jets are on. That’s the way it is.’’