New England coach Bill Belichick has been asked a lot of questions about his team’s quarterback situation since the Patriots’ 33-14 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday night. But he probably said more in answering two questions about New York Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley than he did in responding to all the QB queries put together.

The Patriots and Jets will square off at noon CDT Sunday at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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Mosley ranks sixth in the NFL in tackles this season with 69 for the Jets, who have given up fewer points than in the preceding game for five straight weeks.

After a 31-30 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 18, New York lost to Cincinnati 27-12, then beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-20, Miami Dolphins 40-17, Green Bay Packers 27-10 and Denver Broncos 16-9.

“He’s a really good player,” Belchick said about Mosley on Thursday. “He’s as good a linebacker as we’ve faced in all areas. There’s a lot of linebackers that don’t have the coverage skill that he has, both man and zone. A lot of that is instincts and awareness, but he reads and diagnoses plays very quickly — screens, draws, misdirection plays, things like that. The degree of difficulty plays, he really plays those well. He’s a good tackler. He runs well. He’s got good playing strength and explosion. Just a really smart football player. Controls their front. But he just makes right decisions on almost every play — runs, play-actions, misdirections, tempoing and leveraging on the ball. He’s a solid tackler. He gets the runner, gets the guy down — sometimes behind the line of scrimmage, but when he can get there, he makes the play. But he’s very good at diagnosing and being in the right spot. He’s a hard guy to get out of position. You have to be really careful throwing the ball around him. You have to block him in the running game or you’re not going to go very far, so he’s a guy we have to control. He’s a really good player — as good as any middle linebacker we’ve played against all year.”

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Mosley is in his second season quarterbacking the defensive system of Jets coach Robert Saleh, who joined the Jets last year after serving as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator. In 2021, Mosley registered 168 tackles, the most recorded in one NFL season by a player from an Alabama high school or college.

Mosley was a two-time All-State linebacker for Theodore High School. In 2009, he earned the Class 6A Lineman of the Year Award and recognition as a Parade All-American.

At Alabama, Mosley was a consensus All-American in 2012 and a unanimous All-American in 2013, when he earned the SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award and the Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker. Mosley played for two national-championship teams with the Crimson Tide.

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“He’s as good as anybody we play,” Belichick said. “Just all the way across the board. He can blitz. He doesn’t blitz a lot, but he can and he does, especially in some of their third-down packages. He can cover. He’s a very good zone-coverage player. Reads patterns well, reads the quarterback well, does a good job in that. Can play man-to-man. Very good in the running game. Very instinctive. Good at taking on blockers. Good tackler. Again, keeps a good tempo on the running backs, so he doesn’t overrun plays or take a poor angle, that type of thing. He’s really good at all those things.

“Obviously, quarterbacks the front seven. It’s a team that runs quite a bit of movement, line games and that type of thing. I’m sure those coordination and those calls come from the middle linebacker. I don’t know that for sure. I’m assuming it does, like it does at most teams, so he’s probably a big part of that, too. This kid’s been a good player out of college, at Baltimore and at the Jets. Missed the one year with the injury. But shows up, plays every week, plays every play, is out there in all situations, no reason to take him off the field. He’s a really good player.”

Mosley has played every New York defensive snap in the Jets’ seven games this season.

Belichick even worked Mosley into an answer to a question about the play of New York defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, another former Alabama prep standout – Wenonah for Williams – who became an All-American for the Crimson Tide.

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“A big problem,” Belichick said of Williams. “He’s an explosive powerful guy. Very athletic for his size. Plays hard. Again, there’s a lot of good players up there, so you deal with one, you’ve got to deal with two or three other guys. You’ve got Mosley standing behind them.”

New England has won its past 12 games against the Jets. But for the first of their two 2022 regular-season meetings, New York carries a four-game winning streak while the Patriots are in the cellar of the AFC East with a 3-4 record.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.