FOXBORO — Thanksgiving is a day of reflection for most people, and it was at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday as well, when both team owner Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick took a few moments to share some thoughts.

Belichick opened his news conference by acknowledging the media in attendance as well as many who have an interest in the Patriots.

“I want to pass along Thanksgiving wishes to all of you, the fans, the players’ families and everybody that has put up with us throughout the year,” Belichick said. “It’s a great time of year for all of us to be thankful, especially those of us with the Patriots. We have a great situation here. It’s a great opportunity.

“I appreciate the Kraft family giving me an opportunity to be the coach here. We certainly have outstanding facilities and support and everything to work with … it’s a good time to reflect and be appreciative and take at least one day out of the year to do that. We probably should take every day.”

Belichick noted that Kraft addressed the team in the morning and put Thanksgiving in perspective. Tom Brady expounded on Kraft’s words a short time later.

“He’s a very reflective person and he just wanted to convey a message to the team. He really respects what we do, and last night (many Pats’ players) were at Morgan Memorial [Goodwill headquarters in Boston] giving away turkeys…Randy (Moss) went home and gave away a lot of food to a lot of people in his hometown,” Brady relayed. “He just wanted to, I think, express his gratitude to the guys.”

Kraft also brought up his memories from the Patriots’ last game in the New Orleans Superdome — Super Bowl XXXVI. There are only four players left on the current roster from the 2001 team: Brady, Kevin Faulk, Matt Light and Stephen Neal.

“You never forget that day,” Brady said. “That was pretty unbelievable for all of us. You know…your first chance to play in a Super Bowl and winning the Super Bowl, and of course the circumstances of that year with 9/11 happening.”

Evans finds a home with Saints

When former Pats’ fullback Heath Evans signed a free-agent contract with New Orleans, there were few more upset about the move than the team’s media corps. The affable Florida native always took a few minutes to chat with reporters, and became a favorite even though he wasn’t a major part of the offense.

Evans didn’t take long to ingrain himself in the Saints’ locker room, and was enjoying a strong season on the field as well with three touchdowns, before tearing his right ACL against Miami on Oct. 25, ending his season. Saints coach Sean Payton said Evans had been filling several roles for the team before he was injured.

“He provides versatility — he’s someone that’s athletic enough to fit on the linebackers in the running game and sustain blocks, he can run the football. You can ask him to do a number of things,” Payton said. “So think the fit for him here was a really positive one…he did give you the versatility that a lot of times you don’t necessarily have in a fullback. It started with his ability to help us as a blocker in the running game.”

Evans signed a two-year deal with New Orleans.

Brady to add a page to record book

After another 300-yard performance against the Jets, Brady is just 163 yards away from surpassing Drew Bledsoe as New England’s all-time leader in passing yardage. Bledsoe left the Patriots with 29,657 yards; Brady has 29,495 and is a virtual lock to pass him on Monday night.

Asked about passing Bledsoe, Brady said he had no idea he was so close.

Bodden gets nod as defensive player

Not surprisingly, Leigh Bodden was named the AFC’s defensive player of the week on Wednesday for his performance against the Jets. Bodden tied a Pats single-game team record with three interceptions, the first of which he returned 53 yards for New England’s first score of the day.

Vilma lauds Pats’ tight ends

Saints’ linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who is familiar with the Patriots from his days with the Jets, gave great respect to Brady, Moss and Wes Welker in a Tuesday blog post for PlayMaker Mobile, but he also said New Orleans’ defense needs to be aware of the tight ends: “They have two great tight ends. Ben Watson and Chris Baker. You can’t sleep on New England’s tight ends. Ben Watson is one of the most underrated guys in the league, but of course he doesn’t get the spotlight playing behind Moss and Welker. We are ready for the New England Patriots and we know we’re going to have to EARN the right to go 11-0.”…New York head coach Rex Ryan has benched safety Kerry Rhodes. The former rising star has not registered a single interception, sack, forced fumble or fumble recovery this season and seems to be taking the fall for the terrible job the Jets’ defense did on Wes Welker last Sunday…Stat check: New England remains the second-ranked offense in the NFL by total yardage (15th in rushing, second in passing) for the third straight week, while the defense moved up to sixth place (14th against the run, sixth against the pass) from eighth place.