New England Patriots

Belichick gives CB Leonard Johnson 'a lot of credit' for strong debut

Published Dec. 14, 2015 9:25 a.m. ET

foxsports

The New England Patriots have been depleted at cornerback for some time, but that hasn't stopped them from holding the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Injuries in the secondary have led them to signing several players off the street, one of whom goes by the name of Leonard Johnson.

Johnson, formerly of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, made his Patriots debut on Sunday night against the Houston Texans after being signed last week. He actually got the start as the No. 3 cornerback behind Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan, and played extremely well.

Johnson had two passes defensed in his first game with the Patriots and looked like a valuable addition to the secondary. His head coach, Bill Belichick, was very pleased with the way Johnson played and gave him "a lot of credit" after the game.

“He worked really hard this week,” Belichick said via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “It was a long week, a lot of extra work, a lot of extra meetings, some good competitive time on the practice field. Got to give him a lot of credit -- he came in, learned and his teammates embraced it."

As well as Johnson played, he didn't even expect to get the start.

“I didn't expect to come in and start," Johnson said. "“Football is football. Once I was out there, I was just able to put myself in position to execute the calls. I don't think I was rusty. My conditioning was a little bad, but there's no way to get in football shape other than playing football.”

There's no question he'll play a role for the Patriots down the stretch, at least until rookie Justin Coleman gets fully healthy. For the time being, Johnson, Butler and Ryan look like a good trio on the backend.