I thought one of the nicer moments from this morning’s activities down at Gillette Stadium involved Bill Belichick speaking about Philadelphia Eagles Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, who lost his battle with cancer earlier this week.

When Belichick was asked for his thoughts on Johnson, he said:

Jim’s  probably as good a defensive coordinator as I’ve seen in the league, in the time that I’ve been in it. I spoke with him frequently and we exchanged a lot of ideas.

I have a lot of respect for his philosophy, his schemes, the way he attacks offenses and his ability to utilize personnel. He’s got a real good football mind.. I tried to work with him several times and it never quite worked out. I first knew him when he was at Notre Dame, and I’ve always had great respect for him

He was a good friend, a good football coach, and a tough guy to compete against.  Certainly, on behalf of  our team and the organization, our condolences go out to the Eagles and Jim’s family.

With everything else that is going on today, I’m glad the reporter asked him about this, and I didn’t want it to get lost in the shuffle.

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