Bill Belichick Believes This Underrated Defender Is One Of Patriots’ Best Players

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is a man of a few words, but he loves to talk about the best players on his roster. Belichick has words of praise for Adrian Phillips. He talked about the talented safety on Monday. If you ask Coach B, he will say that Phillips is one of the best players in New England. He is absolutely right about this one.

“This is one of our best players and one of our most versatile players,” Belichick said. “And he almost always does the right thing. When something comes up, maybe you haven’t covered it, maybe you haven’t exactly gone through that situation or that particular way of blocking — crack block or something has unfolded — he almost always does the right thing.”

Belichick likes the way Phillips “does the right thing” and “does what you would want him to do without really telling him exactly what to do in that situation.” In other words, he thinks this is impressive.

Bill Belichick keeps the best players close

Phillips played 259 snaps in the box, 107 at deep safety, 106 on the defensive line, 74 in the slot, and 34 as a wide cornerback.

“Adrian was very good around the line of scrimmage for the Chargers,” Belichick said. “In San Diego, he played in the box, he played on the edge of the defense. They played that style of defense where the safeties really played as linebackers in Coach (Gus) Bradley’s defense, and you could see his instinctiveness. But you go all the way to him at Texas and talking to his coaches back there; it was pretty much the same thing in college as it was in the NFL. Very instinctive, very high IQ, plays faster and bigger than whatever his dimensions and times are. He’s got a real high level of instinctiveness and anticipation.”

Belichick’s comments on Phillips didn’t end here. He said Phillips has “excellent hands” and discussed his interceptions. Analysts would agree that these were really good catches. Many defensive players are unable to do this.

The Patriots will need Phillips’ brilliance to win the remaining games of the regular season.