Facing the New England Patriots for the first time, New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson received his “welcome-to-the-rivalry” moment on his first pass. And his second. And two more times after that.

The rookie was intercepted four times in his first 10 pass attempts in a 25-6 loss Sunday at MetLife Stadium, an all-time clunker in which he learned a hard lesson about being overly aggressive.

“It’s OK to play a boring game of football. That’s really it,” coach Robert Saleh said after dropping to 0-2. “He’s an electric dude. He’s competitive as crap and he wants to win so bad, but sometimes it’s OK to be boring. That’s probably the biggest lesson he can take out of this one.”

Wilson, drafted No. 2 overall, threw more interceptions in the first 34 minutes of the game than he did his entire 2020 season at BYU. The common theme: He forced passes downfield when it would’ve been wiser to take the safer, checkdown option.

Wilson joined Mark Sanchez and Sam Darnold as the only rookies in Jets history to throw four interceptions in a game. Sanchez actually did it twice in 2009, including a five-interception debacle.

Wilson became the first Jets player in 40 years to throw interceptions on his first two passes. The last to do it in any game was the Seattle Seahawks’ Tarvaris Jackson in 2011.

The Jets showed reasons for hope on Sunday, but could not deliver a win.

The offensive line struggled to protect rookie Zach Wilson, who was sacked six times, and the defense gave up enough big plays for the Panthers to hand the Jets a 19-14 loss at Bank of America Stadium.

The Jets start the season off 0-1 for the third straight time. It was not the debut that new coach Robert Saleh or Wilson hoped for.

But there were some good signs.

Wilson showed arm strength and elusiveness as he was running for his life for most of the game. Wilson completed 20 of 37 for 258 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

For the first time since Peyton Manning retired after winning Super Bowl 50, the Denver Broncos may have a quarterback. All it took was 11 tries.

Teddy Bridgewater threw two touchdowns in his first start for Denver and the Broncos dominated possession and beat the Giants 27-13, spoiling the return of New York running back Saquon Barkley after a long ACL rehabilitation.

Acquired in the offseason from Carolina, Bridgewater completed 28 of 36 passes for 264 yards, sharing the ball with nine receivers.

Giants QB Daniel Jones threw a 37-yard touchdown to Sterling Shepard for New York and ran for a 4-yard touchdown on the final play. The third-year quarterback finished 22 of 37 for 253 yards. He also lost a fumble in the red zone with the Giants trailing 20-7 in the third quarter.

Like the offense, Barkley never got going. The 2018 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year finished with 10 carries for 26 yards. His longest run was 5 yards.

The Giants, coming off a 6-10 season under then first-year coach Joe Judge, have not been to the playoffs since 2016, and only once since winning their fourth Super Bowl in February 2012.