Mike Gillislee has been knocking on the door a few times this season.

The running back has come close to busting loose for a major gain, but has fallen short. The first-year Patriot has run strong filling the shoes left by LeGarrette Blount as the team's physical back, but Gillislee hasn't seen the same number of opportunities as his predecessor thus far.

It's not for a lack of production or talent, rather it's the other members of that backfield performing at a high level too.

"I don’t know that we've been able to get to all of them with any of our backs to be honest with you because they’ve all been productive and we've utilized really all four of them – not counting Brandon [Bolden] – Rex [Burkhead] when he played earlier in the year, and then Dion [Lewis], Mike and of course James [White]," head coach Bill Belichick said Friday. "We really like having any of those guys on the field. They’ve all been productive and we have a lot of confidence in all of them. They’ve all been good with ball security. It's been a very productive group."

The Patriots are gearing up for the Week 6 matchup with the New York Jets! Take a second to sign up for our FREE Patriots newsletter!

So far this season Gillislee has seen the lion's share of carries in New England's backfield despite White logging more snaps. Through five game the former Bills back has ran the ball 69 times for 246 yards and four touchdowns.

Three of those scores came in the opener against Kansas City, but Belichick believes that the explosiveness that Gillislee has displayed out in Buffalo will bubble to the surface at some point with the Patriots.

"Mike has certainly given us a lot of tough yards," he said. "He’s an explosive player. He hasn’t really hit them yet but I don’t think there’s any doubt that those are going to happen. He’s been close a few times so hopefully he'll start this week."

Gillislee will have a great shot at having his breakout performance in Week 6 as he'll go against a Jets defense that has given up the third most rushing yards this season.

For more Patriots news, follow Tyler Sullivan on Twitter: @TylerSully