Well I think the big thing for Artrell at safety is just his intelligence and his physical play. Artrell is a smart kid and he’s a tough kid and a contact player, a good tackler for a corner. If you think about moving a corner inside to safety, those are the two things that you certainly want to take into consideration when you make that move, is the player’s overall awareness and intelligence and ability to process different formations and adjustments and all of that, which there’s a lot more of that at safety and also there is more contact involved: receivers cracking on you, more involved in the running game, guys over the middle and all of that. So there is more of a physical element to safety. I’m not saying that corners aren’t physical, but I think there are just more physical plays that safeties are involved in than corners, generally speaking. Artrell certainly has those characteristics that you look for. He is a smart kid. He works hard. He understands football very well and he is a contact player. He is a tough kid.
Bill Belichick Press Conference Transcript
New England Patriots
August 2, 2006
