FOXBORO -- Danny Amendola has been one of the stars of the Patriots this postseason, especially in the AFC title game when he scored two fourth quarter touchdowns in the Patriots' 24-20 win over the Jaguars.
Amendola came to New England in 2013 after spending the first four years in the league with the Rams. Before returning to New England for a second stint, Josh McDaniels was the Rams' offensive coordinator where he worked with Amendola in 2011.
McDaniels pushed Bill Belichick to give Amendola a look when he was a free agent after the 2012 season.
"The light went on with Josh [McDaniels]," Belichick said Wednesday. "Josh was here. Josh had him in St. Louis and you saw a good player in St. Louis but you didn't see all the things behind the scenes that you kind of can see when you actually have the player on your team. Josh saw that and he made us aware of all the things that Danny does and how well he does them, what his skills were and so forth. That's kind of when it started and then of course once we got him here all of that became evident to everybody who works with him."
Amendola was originally signed by the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2009.
The 32-year-old has made the most of his opportunity with the Patriots, especially coming up big in big games. In 12 playoff games, Amendola has 49 receptions for 557 yards and six touchdowns.
