FOXBORO, Mass. — The usually understated Dion Lewis didn't care about the recorders and television cameras around him. Because he had to get his point across.

"[Danny] Amendola is a [expletive] animal. A [expletive] animal," said Lewis. "I'm cussing, I don't care. He's a beast."

The Patriots are of course spearheaded by twin pillars in Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, their presences both looming like a colossus larger than the lighthouse at Gillette Stadium. But New [...]

FOXBORO, Mass. — The usually understated Dion Lewis didn't care about the recorders and television cameras around him. Because he had to get his point across.

"[Danny] Amendola is a [expletive] animal. A [expletive] animal," said Lewis. "I'm cussing, I don't care. He's a beast."

The Patriots are of course spearheaded by twin pillars in Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, their presences both looming like a colossus larger than the lighthouse at Gillette Stadium. But New England's unprecedented run of sustained success in the NFL — seven straight berths in the AFC title game this decade and, after a 24-20 comeback win over the Jaguars on Sunday, an eighth Super Bowl trip in 17 seasons — relies upon the depth of contributions on the roster. It derives from the reliability of veterans like Amendola.

After all, the pithy clichés-cum-football philosophy espoused at Patriot Place — No days off. Next man up. Do your job — find expression less in Brady's historic brilliance than in Amendola's blue-collar versatility.

Amendola is the guy who doesn't take a day off, helping set a tone throughout the locker room. Amendola is the guy who is the next man up, when Julian Edelman goes down in the preseason and Rob Gronkowski in Sunday's first half. Amendola is the guy whose job description morphs over the course of the season and indeed Sunday's four quarters.

Belichick crystallized all that Amendola means with some of his highest praise postgame.

"Danny's such a good football player. When you look up ‘good football player’ in the dictionary, his picture is right there beside it," the head coach said. "It doesn’t matter what it is — fielding punts, third down, big play, red area, onside kick recovery – whatever we need him to do. He’s just a tremendous player."

How many of those jobs did Amendola do for the Patriots Sunday? There was his regular gig as Tom Brady's third-down security blanket, highlighted on arguably the most important play of New England's fourth-quarter comeback: a 21-yard crossing route on 3rd-and-18.

"It was an unbelievable catch and big play in the game," Brady said. "That ended up being a huge drive for us, and without that, we don’t go down and score that touchdown."

Amendola's next job was red-zone target — perhaps taking on a larger role with Gronkowski sidelined. He capped off the 85-yard drive he had resuscitated on third-and-long with a nine-yard touchdown catch to cut the Jacksonville lead to 20-17 in the fourth quarter.

There he was as a special-teams difference-maker, his 20-yard punt return setting the Pats up at the Jaguars 30-yard-line in the final minutes for the go-ahead touchdown. Which, again, he caught in the back of the end zone, his toes tapping balletically just inside the end-line.

"He's got great hands and just a great sense about where he's at on the field," Brady said. "He's made so many big catches."

The dude even played some QB, hitting Dion Lewis with a perfect throw on a trick play in the fourth quarter. It picked up 20 — before Lewis fumbled.

"That’s another guy you don’t worry about being prepared, you don’t worry about having to show up. He’s going to go out there and do whatever it takes," safety Devin McCourty said of Amendola. "He exemplifies being a great teammate, he’s a brother in that locker room, a veteran guy, and [has] great leadership. To me, that’s what leadership is, and he shows up when we need it the most…. Everyone says it all the time – he’s clutch."

"It's a remarkable thing to watch. That’s who Danny is. His character is consistent, his work ethic is consistent," said wideout Matthew Slater. "If I've got to go in a foxhole, I'll take him in there because he's going to fight to the end…. You can't measure heart, and you can't coach heart. You have it or you don't, and he's got plenty of it."

On Sunday, Amendola finished with seven catches for 84 yards, plus those two scores. In his last three postseason games with the Pats, he has 26 grabs for 274 yards and three touchdowns. A quiet safety valve in the regular season, he grows into a force in January.

"It’s a lot about preparation, circumstance, opportunity, being ready and no fear," he said. "Just get out there and get it done. That’s what we’re all about in this building."

"He's a pitbull. He's amazing. One of the greatest teammates I've had, honestly," Phillip Dorsett said. "Words can't really describe how great Danny is."

Well, maybe not printable ones.