Patriots' Bill Belichick praises Tim Tebow

Bill Belichick, one of the greatest coaching minds in football, sees value in Tim Tebow.

The Patriots coach said he "absolutely" sees why the Jets thought it necessary to trade for the backup quarterback/Wildcat aficionado/punt protector.

"There's no question about it," Belichick said Tuesday during a conference call. "We saw him play last year. He quarterbacked that team to the playoffs in Denver, and in addition to some of the quarterbacking things, he's done a lot of other things for the Jets. Yeah, of course he's a valuable guy. There's no doubt about that.''

"Patriots Week" always is "ratcheted up" a notch, defensive lineman Mike DeVito said on a weekly radio spot on WFAN. But the compliments continued to flow from New England. Quarterback Tom Brady called Antonio Cromartie "a phenomenal player" and noted the cornerback has stepped up big-time in the absence of Darrelle Revis.

Cromartie, however, wasn't complimentary of Brady during the Jets' playoff run in January 2011. The cornerback used an expletive to describe Brady during the week before the Jets stunned the Patriots, 28-21, in the divisional round at Gillette Stadium.