FOXBORO – Moments after he helped his new team beat the Patriots, 21-16, yesterday at Foxboro Stadium, Keyshawn Johnson started rooting for the Patriots.

Johnson was asked on his way to the team bus which coach he would be rooting for next Monday night when the Jets and Patriots renew a rivalry rife with subplots and multi-level hatred, Al Groh of the Jets or Bill Belichick of the Patriots.

“I’ll probably be rooting for Belichick to win,” Johnson said. “Not probably. I’ll definitely be rooting for Belichick to win. I’ll be rooting for my guys on the Jets team to have good games, but I’ve got to root for Belichick to win.”

Why?

“Why?” Johnson echoed. “Because I like Belichick. And no, I don’t like Groh.”

Johnson said during the week leading up to the game that he believes it was Groh and not Bill Parcells who was the one in favor of trading Johnson instead of giving him a contract that would have kept him in New York.