Belichick heaps praise on Reed

Q: Can you talk about Ed Reed and the mind games he plays?
Bill Belichick: I don't think there's anybody any better in the game, or I've seen anybody any better than Ed Reed in terms of disguise, ability to read the quarterback. [He can] anticipate plays, sometimes it's route, sometimes it's formations, sometimes it's what the quarterback's doing. And on top of all that, he's got a tremendous burst and acceleration to the football, great hands, timing and ball skills. When you put it all together, he gets around a lot of balls. I think the quarterback has to know every time that ball leaves his hand where Ed Reed is because that guys makes ... He can play sideline to sideline. Usually, you feel better in two-deep defenses than one-deep, but really with Ed Reed back there, I think you almost feel better in one-deep because he can cover the whole field by himself, and you don't have to worry about the other guy covering half of it. He really can handle the whole thing back there. When I was in Hawaii with him for a week at the Pro Bowl and got a chance to work with him - I mean, I know it was the Pro Bowl, but work with him on a daily basis in practice, and really watch him up close, and tell him what to do, and watch him do it, and that type of thing -- that was even more impressive. He's a rare, rare player at that position, as good as any I've ever seen. I know there are a lot of guys that have had a lot of interceptions there, the Paul Krause's and the Darren Sharper's, guys that I'm not taking anything away from them. But this guy, he can do it all back there. He can play corner if they want him to play corner. He blocks kicks. He returns kicks. He returns interceptions for touchdowns. He scoops up interceptions for touchdowns. He's always around the ball and that's usually bad for the offense when he is. He's a great football player.



(patriots press conference)