FOXBOROUGH — Bill Belichick wanted to see a lot from Brian Hoyer on Thursday night.

The Patriots head coach got his wish, as the rookie out of Michigan State played every offensive snap in a 38-27 come-from-behind win over the New York Giants in the preseason finale at Gillette Stadium.

The final stat sheet was impressive for Hoyer, who completed 18-of-25 passes for 242 yards, including an eight-yard TD pass to Robert Ortiz, helping the Pats erase a 21-0 deficit after one quarter.

His numbers added up to a Brady-esque 115.8 passer rating, aided by touchdown drives of 80 and 64 yards in the final quarter against the Giants’ third-stringers.

“We just wanted to see him play, see the different situations and, as it got going, I thought he would learn from the ones that came up all throughout the game,” Belichick said.

But Belichick stopped short of awarding Hoyer a position on the team right on the spot.

“Not bad,” Belichick said when asked of Hoyer’s overall play. “There were plenty of things that could be better and he needs to work on. But I thought he moved the team. I thought he handled the ball fairly well, threw it accurately. We’ll look at the film.”

Hoyer was not available to speak after the game.

But his teammates were, including BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who significantly lightened the load for Hoyer by carrying the ball 29 times for 125 yards and three touchdowns.

“Brian did a good job of controlling our offense,” Green-Ellis said. “We mixed it up. (The staff) did a good job of calling some pass plays and some run plays and mixing it up on them. We were able to move the ball down the field.”

Veteran tight end Ben Watson could sense a level of maturity in the rookie quarterback, and along with that, confidence.

“I think it’s really important for a quarterback to have that confidence, especially in that critical situation where you’re down and you’re able to bring the team back,” Watson said. “All of that kind of stuff builds a quarterback’s confidence and quarterback is really only as good as his confidence level, or any player.”

What was very obvious on New England’s final two scoring drives was Hoyer’s ability to step into the pocket and take a hit to complete a pass and keep the team moving.

“For any player, that’s big, to get in there and step into the throw.”

Now, Hoyer, like nearly every player who played Thursday night, sits back and wonders whether his performance was good enough come Saturday when the roster is cut to 53.