We all know Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden loves Kirk Cousins — that’s why he hung Robert Griffin III out to dry and installed him at scout-team safety in favor of the former Michigan State star. But Cousins has another fan in the NFL coaching ranks, one who’s notoriously difficult to please and offers little praise to even his own stars: Bill Belichick.

Here’s what ol’ Billy l had to say about Cousins ahead of Sunday’s Redskins-Patriots game (via The Boston Globe):

“He does a lot of things well, seems like a really smart guy. He runs the offense well. They had some check plays and things like that, he does a good job there. He’s pretty athletic. Even though he hasn’t run a lot, but he moves around quite a bit. They run bootlegs, moving pocket plays, things like that, so he definitely has the quickness to create a little bit of extra time to throw.”

Wow. That’s tremendous praise from the greatest football mind of our generation. He says Cousins is smart, effective, athletic and quick. That’s a lot of positive adjectives about Kirk Cousins. My mom doesn’t even love Kirk Cousins that much.

I mean, that’s a quote you could practically substitute into Belichick’s public thoughts on Brady. Though he’s frequently effusive with his praise on the Pats’ future Hall of Famer, sometimes his comments are more mundane than his apparent respect for Cousins. Here’s Belichick on Brady in 2013:

“He does a good job reading the coverages and throws the ball very accurately and gives the receivers a chance to make the play and we made enough of them. That’s what he does. That’s what he gets paid for. That’s why he’s so good. He does a good job of throwing the ball accurately and making good decisions and he made several of them on that drive.”

And now on Cousins on Monday:

“He does a good job at finding and using all his receivers. Running backs, tight ends, and multiple wideouts — they play a lot of people in the passing game. He definitely spreads it around. He’s done a good job at controlling the clock and making key passes to keep drives going.”

I can only assume this love-fest between Belichick and Cousins means one thing: Belichick assumes his Pats will pick Cousins four times en route to a 56-3 victory.