ATLANTA (AP) – Michael Vick sounds like he would prefer to catch the New England Patriots at a different time.

What’s that? The defending Super Bowl champions are coming off an awful performance last week, getting blown out 41-17 by the San Diego Chargers – at home, no less. The Patriots are all banged up, too, especially on the defensive side. The Chargers made that painfully clear last week, with LaDainian Tomlinson running for 135 yards and Antonio Gates roaming freely through the secondary. But Vick doesn’t take any hope from New England’s sorry performance. A team doesn’t win three Super Bowls in four years without knowing a thing or two about dealing with adversity.

Nobody bounces back better than the Patriots (2-2), who haven’t had a losing streak since late in the 2002 season. They’ll try to keep that streak alive when they play the Falcons (3-1).

“The worst thing you can do is catch a team coming off a bad performance,” Vick said. “Those are the teams that are the most dangerous. They will blow you out. You have to look at it like this: They are the defending world champions.”

Of course, everyone measures themselves against the Patriots, who have totally defied the supposed parity of the salary cap era by winning 31 of their last 37 regular-season games.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us this week. They’ve got a lot of pride,” said Falcons linebacker Ike Reese, who was part of that Eagles team that lost to New England in the Super Bowl. “At the same time, we’re at home and we feel like we’ve got a good ballclub.”

Even the Atlanta coaches are fired up about this one – especially the chance to go against the likes of Bill Belichick, the architect of all those Super Bowl titles.

“Bill Belichick is recognized as the smartest, best, most innovative coach in football,” said his Falcons counterpart, Jim Mora. “Although he’s not going to be playing on Sunday and our coaches aren’t going to be playing on Sunday, there is something to the matchup.

“So yes, you get a little more juiced up for games like this.”

The Falcons are averaging 209 yards rushing per game, topped off last week by 285 yards against Minnesota – the second-best showing in Atlanta history.

New England looks especially vulnerable to a team that runs with such authority. The Patriots had to rebuild at linebacker after Tedy Bruschi suffered a stroke and Ted Johnson retired. Then, safety Rodney Harrison went down with a season-ending knee injury. Both starting cornerbacks have been sidelined, too.

“First and foremost, there’s no replacing guys like Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi and (injured offensive lineman) Matt Light,” defensive tackle Richard Seymour said. “Not only on the field, but off the field as well.”

Seymour is hopeful the replacements – especially struggling linebackers Monty Beisel and Chad Brown – will grow more comfortable in their roles. After all, the Patriots worked through a rash of injuries last season, even using receiver Troy Brown in the secondary.

“It is important for those guys to go out there and not try to be a Teddy Bruschi or a Rodney Harrison,” the three-time Pro Bowl selection said. “They have to do a better job of just being themselves.”

Seymour himself was listed as questionable on Thursday’s injury report, meaning he missed part of practice. He appeared to be hurt while playing goal-line fullback against the Chargers.

One thing is certain – New England won’t panic. Seymour pointed to the 2004 opener, when the Patriots were blown out by Buffalo 31-0. They lost only one game the rest of the year on their way to another Super Bowl championship.

“Obviously, we don’t want to be in those situations, but we have the confidence as a team that we can get the job done,” Seymour said. “We have a great opportunity of going out this week and trying to bounce back from our loss.”

The Falcons have an injury of their own to worry about. Vick sprained a ligament in his right knee last week and sat out the entire second half against the Vikings. He didn’t push himself too hard in practice, either, but insisted he’ll be ready to play against the Patriots.

“Oh, I was scared, man, because my knee hit the ground so hard,” Vick said. “I was just holding it, hoping that it wasn’t as serious as I thought. I was just thankful that it wasn’t serious.”

Mora said the season-opening victory over Philadelphia should help the Falcons in this one. And they’ll certainly have plenty of confidence if they can beat another of the league’s elite teams.

“Every year is a different situation and there are different momentums, but to be able to measure ourselves against the two teams that played in the Super Bowl last year is fantastic for us,” he said. “It hardens us a bit. It’ll make us battle-tested a little bit.”

Mora isn’t sure if he’d rather face the Patriots coming off a loss or a win.

“I wrestled with it the other day when I was keeping track of that (New England-San Diego) score,” he said. “Do you want them to win so that they aren’t as hungry? Or if they win, do they have confidence knowing that they can win with guys hurt?”

He’ll find out the answer on Sunday.

AP-ES-10-06-05 2225EDT