Welker had 15 catches and 192 receiving yards on Sunday. (AP)

FOXBORO — The first indication that Sunday’s Patriots-Jets game was going to have little resemblance to their Week 2 matchup came with just over four minutes left in the first quarter.

New England held a 7-0 lead, and was on the move for another score. On a nine-play scoring drive, the Patriots went to Wes Welker four times (three receptions, one run), and the slot receiver — who did not play in the first meeting of the season between the two teams — ended up accounting for 62 of the 76 yards on the sequence, which ended with a four-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Randy Moss.

On the day, Welker accounted for 203 yards from scrimmage, and had career bests in receptions (15) and receiving yards (192). The 5-foot-9 receiver was a big reason the New England offense was able to operate without impunity for most of the afternoon — Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis compared him to the Energizer Bunny, and Patriots coach Bill Belichick was again effusive in his praise for Welker after New England’s 31-14 win.

“Wes is probably the best slot receiver in the league,” he said.

After watching film on the Jets and believing New York would focus much of their attention on stopping Moss, Welker had a notion he would see a lot of action on Sunday. That supposition was proven right — while Moss was shut down for much of the afternoon (five catches, 34 yards, one touchdown) by Revis and the rest of the Jets’ secondary, Welker was able to run free much of the day, working a variety of areas on the field and catching 15 of the 17 balls thrown to him by Brady.

“I knew there were probably going to be a lot of balls coming my way,” Welker said. “Not to that extent. But the guys did a great job around me of playing really well, and blocking up front, and everybody just doing their jobs.”

“He played big — he always does. He’s a great player,” Brady said of Welker. “He’s working the middle of that field. When the coverage goes to Randy, Wes has some opportunities. He played a great game. What a performance.”

The New England passing game was at its’ best early in the second quarter. With the Patriots facing a third and 7 at the New York 46, Brady had Moss and Welker split wide to the right. Both took off down the field, but Moss stopped 10 or so yards in, drawing three defensive backs toward him.

Meanwhile, Welker kept going down the seam, where he was relatively unchecked. Brady recognized what was happening and delivered a strike to Welker in stride, and the receiver took the ball down to the Jets’ three-yard line.

It was the sort of play the New England offense — without Welker in their Week 2 loss at the Meadowlands — struggled to make against the Jets in September.

“I think they got confused on how they wanted to play,” Welker said. “I noticed it and Tom saw it too, and so I just took off down the field and we were able to make a big play out of it.”

“It looked like they were trying to blitz us, and I think they bailed out at the last second,” Brady said of the longest pass play of the game for the Patriots. “But at that point, Wes was already running up the field.

“He made a great play, a great catch. That was a big play for us. We really needed it.”