The Patriots expect Michael Strahan to be at the top of his game Sunday.

FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) – New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has fond memories of his time as an assistant with the New York Giants, and yet he figures they’d be even fonder if Michael Strahan was playing for him back then.

“Are you kidding me? We didn’t have any defensive linemen in his class. Not even close,” Belichick said this week when asked if Strahan could have played for the 1986 Giants that won the Super Bowl. “He makes a lot of plays that help other people make plays that he won’t ever get credit for. But when you watch him do it, you really have an appreciation for his unselfish play.”

Belichick will have a close look at Strahan when the Giants play the Patriots on Sunday, a game that is known around here as the other entry in the New York-Boston rivalry this week. It will be squeezed in between Games 3 and 4 of the AL playoff series between the Red Sox and Yankees.

“They are a very, very explosive football team coming in here Sunday,” said Belichick, the Giants defensive coordinator in ’86. “I have a lot of respect for them. I spent 12 years in the organization, 12 good years. I certainly know what they are capable of.”

Strahan, who’s had no shortage of compliments in his career, seemed genuinely honored by Belichick’s comments.

“Whoa,” he said, “Now that’s the ultimate compliment.”

But the Patriots shouldn’t expect him to let it go to his head.

“They are trying to sucker me. They are trying to butter me up,” he said. “My wife does the same thing when she wants something that is expensive. And that never works, so it’s not working.”

Strahan missed most of training camp because of a broken little toe, but he said it isn’t bothering him any more. That’s bad news for the Patriots’ offensive line, which could have rookie Tom Ashworth at tackle in place of Adrian Klemm, who is questionable with an ankle injury.

“The difficult part of that is that I have to study for two guys,” Strahan said. “I actually keep notes on guys. If I play a guy again, I just flip back and look at the notes. With these guys, it’s the first time. It’s like kissing a girl for the first time. You are nervous and you hope it goes well. You never know how far it is going to go.”

That’s not as difficult as the task Ashworth could face.

“I’ve been around two weeks, so every week’s a challenge for me. Every week I learn, and hopefully last week helped me,” he said. “He’s the all-time single-season sack leader, All-Pro, I don’t know how many times. He’s as good as it gets.”

Although the Patriots know they have a tough matchup with the Giants, at least they know they won’t be going head-to-head with the Red Sox for their fans’ attention. Sunday’s scheduled fourth game of the AL championship series is at 7:50 p.m., giving the Boston and New York fans plenty of time to watch the football game and even tailgate a little before heading home for the first pitch.

The Patriots weren’t so lucky last week, when their game against the Tennessee Titans was at the same time of Game 4 of the Red Sox’s first-round series against the Oakland Athletics. On two occasions, Gillette Stadium erupted into cheers after something bad happened for the local football team because so many fans were following the baseball game on portable televisions or radios.

The Bruins had a similar experience on Wednesday night when they opened their season against the Stanley Cup champions from – where else? – New Jersey. But the hockey players said they were able to feed off the excitement in the building, even though the excitement was due to the baseball game.

The football players were a little more put off.

“Even though we won that football game on Sunday, everything was the Red Sox, Red Sox,” Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour said. “We’re here to support the Red Sox, but we have to get our wins in as well. “