Hunter Henry wasn’t the New England Patriots’ first free agency signing. In fact, he was the second big-splash addition that the team made at the position. But it was crystal clear how much Bill Belichick values the veteran tight end after the team’s Week 7 win over the New York Jets.
“He’s a good, smart, tough, dependable player,” Belichick said on Monday.
It’s not just that Henry put together an impressive performance as a pass-catcher, with his fourth touchdown in as many games Belichick admired Henry’s ability to contribute in other phases of the game — even on special teams where he helped spring Gunner Olszewski for a nice kick return.
“Hunter came all the way over from the right side, made a key block and we got the ball in good field position to start the game,” Belichick said during a video conference. “It was a heads-up play by the kickoff return team in a lot of areas, but really Hunter made the key block on that and came the farthest to do it.
“It’s little things like that that Hunter does that really — they’re little things that become big things.”
Henry hasn’t been enormously productive with the Patriots, with 24 catches for 264 yards and four touchdowns. He has increased his role in recent weeks, however, and has been a key blocker in New England’s run game.
“Hunter’s been really good in a lot of ways,” the Patriots head coach said Monday. “He’s a smart player. He can do a lot of things. He’s got a good, versatile skill set. Really, I thought one of the best plays he had (Sunday) was on the opening kickoff where the Jets tried to kick the ball opposite of the way we expected and what the wind would indicate and so forth.
“But it was a play designed to send the ball up into the sun and make it a tough catch and a tough play there. Gunner (Olszewski) handled the ball well, but we had to flip the whole return from going to the right (to) going to the left based on where the ball came down.”
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