"Wes Welker believes that in one very important way, he dropped the ball in dealing with the foul-mouthed, trash-talking Jets before last weekend's divisional round showdown.

The Patriots receiver admitted to the Herald yesterday he regrets conducting a press conference filled with at least 10 foot references in an attempt to tweak Jets coach Rex Ryan about his alleged fetish.

"Yeah, sure I do," he said when asked about the infamous chat that earned him a benching to start the game.

Welker knows the drill. He has been well-schooled in Bill Belichick's art of saying nothing, ignoring insults and not stoking the fire with gasoline. He knows it's not the "Patriots way" to respond to anything an opponent puts out there, no matter how loathsome.

Sitting at the airport in San Francisco, awaiting the second leg of his flight to Hawaii where he's about to make his third Pro Bowl appearance, Welker talked for the first time about the incident.

"I'm not going to get into any details about it, but I don't think it's worth putting coach (Belichick) in that situation," he said. "So in a sense, I do regret it. .?.?. As much as you might want to get enticed into that stuff, at the end of the day, it's just not worth it."

While his intent was to stick up for Tom Brady, who was the target of abuse from both Ryan and cornerback Antonio Cromartie, Welker is aware that as light-hearted as his entertaining press conference appeared to be, he still put his coach in a tough spot. Belichick, the anti-Ryan, had to be consistent with what he preached. So that called for Welker to be disciplined. Belichick opted to "bench" Welker for the first offensive series during the 28-21 playoff loss to Gang Green.

So how tough is it to adhere to Belichick's code when a team like the Jets can call opposing players expletives and harsh names and get applauded and endorsed by their coach? How hard is it to bite your tongue and not want to lash back?"