FOXBORO -- On the offensive side of the ball, Bill Belichick sees Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson just as any other coach in the league sees him: as a real threat.
Belichick spent some time on Saturday praising Johnson's abilities to hurt a defense.
"Hes really a special player," said Belichick. "He does a lot of things well, hits a lot of deep balls, a big target, obviously, double moves, go-routes, back shoulder-type throws. Hes a tough matchup for anybody one-on-one. Its like throwing to a tight end, theres always a place to get the ball to him. But hes also very good on underneath routes, the under routes, the tear screens, even plays like hitches and slants, they hit them and he breaks tackles, like he did in the Jacksonville game. He does it every week really.
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"He can take a short pass, a two, three-yard pass and turn it into a long run or he can run by the defense like he did against Denver on the post pattern," he added. "Go-route, double moves, stop-and-gos, all those things; hes got a good route tree, he has a variety of routes. Sometimes they put him in the slot, usually hes outside but they do move him around so you have to find him. Hes good on the catch-and-run plays, hes good on the vertical routes, hes good in the red area, he can go up and get the ball, he blocks well. Hes a great player. Hes done it for a long time. He puts up big numbers every year and people are keying on him, theyre looking for him and he keeps producing. Hes a hard guy to cover."