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Tom Brady labels New England Patriots WR Danny Amendola 'incredible'

By The Sports Xchange
New England Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola (80) pulls in a 12-yard reception while covered by Tennessee Titans cornerback Logan Ryan (26) in the fourth quarter of the AFC Divisional round playoff game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on January 13, 2018. The Patriots defeated the Titans 35-14 and move on to the AFC Championship game. Photo by Matthew Healey/UPI
1 of 2 | New England Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola (80) pulls in a 12-yard reception while covered by Tennessee Titans cornerback Logan Ryan (26) in the fourth quarter of the AFC Divisional round playoff game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on January 13, 2018. The Patriots defeated the Titans 35-14 and move on to the AFC Championship game. Photo by Matthew Healey/UPI | License Photo

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Wide receiver Danny Amendola had a solid season in New England, finishing third on the team with 61 catches for 659 yards with two touchdowns while starting eight of 15 games played. That production came with the team clearly monitoring the veteran's reps and targets in an effort to keep him healthy for the postseason despite a knee issue that's hampered him in recent years.

It worked. In Saturday night's 35-14 win over Tennessee, Amendola was targeted a game-high 13 times leading to 11 catches for 112 yards, the first 100-yard postseason game of his career.

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"He's a great player. He works his tail off and he's just Danny 'Playoff' Amendola," tight end Rob Gronkowski said. "For real. Every time the playoffs come, big games, he's always there. He's always stepping up his game. He's a great player, great teammate, great dude so it's great to see that."

Quarterback Tom Brady described Amendola's contributions to the win as "incredible," while head coach Bill Belichick noted the veteran's sure-handed work on punt returns on a cold, windy night in Foxborough.

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"He's kind of a guy you take for granted, but he delivered a lot tonight, as he always does," Belichick said of the receiver who had eight catches for 78 yards and a touchdown in last February's Super Bowl LI comeback after failing to catch more than four passes in any game during the 2016 regular season.

"He's one of the all-time great teammates, no question about it - very unselfish," Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. "However big or small you tell him his role's going to be on a week-to-week basis, he embraces that. He prepares really hard. He cares about doing it right. He's always ready to go however much you need him or are going to use him, and he's as competitive as anybody else we have. He plays hard on every single snap and will do anything for the team to help us win. So, I don't know that I could give a greater compliment to a player than that, and he always plays big in the big games. So, he's a guy that you trust, that you want in the game, that you can count on and you know you're always going to get his best effort. Like a lot of our guys, he can take himself to another level and try to do a little bit more than maybe what's done in the past, and he does a great job of preparing hard to be able to do that. It's a testament to him, how much he cares about his teammates and our team in general and love having the guy. It's a privilege to coach people like him."

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