FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- With top wide receiver Julian Edelman out with a broken bone in his left foot since Nov. 15, and fellow pass-catcher Danny Amendola in and out of the lineup with a left knee injury, the New England Patriots have relied more on Keshawn Martin.

The fourth-year veteran is coming off arguably his best game with the team, totaling seven catches for 68 yards in Sunday's loss to the New York Jets. Martin was targeted a team-high 11 times.

The former Houston Texan, who was acquired in a trade on Sept. 17, was praised by coach Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels for his work.

"Keshawn has done a great job for us," Belichick said Tuesday. "He got here and was starting to kind of get into the rotation and get some opportunities and all that, then he missed [five] games [with a hamstring injury] and that kind of slowed him down a little bit. But as he’s come back and unfortunately as we’ve lost a little bit of depth at that position, it’s given Keshawn an opportunity and he’s really stepped in and taken advantage of that.

"Of course being in a system similar to ours in Houston, I’m sure that helped him to some degree. We’ve used him in different positions, really in all three receiver spots in our three-receiver groupings. He’s been inside and outside, both on the strong side and the weak side, so he has good position flexibility. He’s smart and he’s also given us some plays in the return game."

In the five games he's played since returning from injury, the 5-foot-11, 194-pound Martin has averaged 60.4 snaps per game. He has 23 catches for 265 yards and two touchdowns on the season. The 23 catches eclipses his previous career high of 22, set in his second season (2013).

Belichick cited Martin's running skills -- both as a receiver and as a punt/kickoff returner -- as assets.

"He’s been a great addition, great teammate, and everybody likes to work with him," Belichick said. "He’s alert, he’s sharp, ready to go, competes hard, practices well. I think he’s improved significantly, both in his kicking game, ball handling and also his offensive receiving work, route techniques, ball skills, adjustments and so forth. Even though it was a later starting time, his performance has just kind of improved every week, and I think there is a lot of confidence in him. He’s been able to help us and I’m glad we have him. He’s been a great addition for us."

Added McDaniels, "Keshawn’s really taken advantage of his opportunities. He works extremely hard, he prepares to know his part in the game plan very well and practices well. I think that he has demonstrated the ability to do the two things that we really tell our receivers they have to do, which is to get open and catch the ball. He’s versatile. He’s demonstrated the ability to make plays under pressure and he’s made some catches on third down and he’s made some catches in the red zone.

"He’s had to do some things for us, in terms of adjusting after the ball’s been snapped [but] I really like the things that Keshawn’s doing, really enjoy the person that he is. He’s really a good kid, he works hard, he has a great attitude, he’s bright and he’s talented. We are fortunate to have him and like I said, he’s really doing a good job of making the most of his opportunities that he’s getting. We’ll look forward to continued improvement and growth from him as we go through the rest of the season."