Bill Belichick threw down the gauntlet to Sony Michel and the New England Patriots before Week 12. Belichick wanted his team to run the football with dominance against the New York Jets.

The Patriots did just that, with 215 rushing yards in the 27-13 win.

Belichick wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t believe running the football gave the Patriots the best chance to win. Following that logic, Belichick saw Michel as one of the keys to victory on Sunday. Michel finished Week 12 with 21 carries for 133 yards and a touchdown.

“He’s a strong runner,” Belichick said on a conference call on Tuesday. “He’s got really good lower body strength and he does a job as you said of pushing the pile, of grinding out another yard or two after contact. He has good balance. …

“But Sony’s got very good balance, good lower body leg strength and he’s a strong, strong guy that can make yards against, I would say, bigger tacklers. You even see some of the defensive linemen and linebackers that tackle him and he’s a lot of times able to push forward for an extra yard or two.”

That’s the physical ability that helped put Michel on the Patriots’ radar heading into the 2018 NFL Draft, during which New England selected Michel at 31st overall. Michel’s physical prowess has been just as impressive as his mental strength.

Early in the season, Michel dealt with knee issues, and missed training camp, preseason and a few weeks of the regular season. He then missed more time after suffering an injury midseason. Amid those issues, Michel faced criticism from a few media members. But Michel displayed maturity despite adversity and external pressure.

“He’s been in a lot of big games,” Belichick said. “He’s been in a lot of critical football situations. He has a lot of poise and has a good even manner about him in terms of learning, correcting mistakes, having urgency but in a balance where it doesn’t take away from the execution and the focus of the assignment and the way that things need to be done. He does a real good job of all that, has since he’s been here, coming in as a first round pick with the expectations and so forth.

“He’s really handled all of that well and has really focused on being a good teammate, doing a good job with what he has to do. He’s been great for us.”