FOXBOROUGH -- Tom Brady was waiting in the wings as Bill Belichick took his last question of the press conference -- about the dominant play of Stephon Gilmore in the New England Patriots’ win over the Dallas Cowboys Sunday.

But before stepping away, Belichick did something he rarely does: deliver one last statement, something he needed to get off his chest and out into the media.

“I would say one final thing then in closing, that one of the real top efforts today would have to go to Marcus Cannon,” Belichick said.

Cannon was limited in practice Friday with an illness and questionable to play Sunday. Before the game, he wasn’t spotted in warmups. Before halftime, he was pulled early from his right tackle spot before returning in the third quarter.

After the game, we learned why. Cannon was still battling that same illness.

“I honestly didn’t expect him to play today,” Belichick said. “We talked before the game. He felt like he’d be able to work through it, so we tried to help him out a little bit there at the half. I’d say overall it was one of the top efforts from a guy that barely had enough strength to put on his uniform.”

So what was wrong with Cannon?

“I have no idea. I’m not a doctor,” the 31-year-old tackle said.

Cannon had a tough test on the edge Sunday going against DeMarcus Lawrence, one of the NFL’s top pass rushers and held him to zero sacks and just one QB hit on the day. After the game, Cannon admitted that he had a lot of help. That came in the form of teammates helping on the field, be it tight ends chipping defenders or Shaq Mason checking in on him during the game. Off the field, it took a village to get Cannon ready to strap up.

“It took a lot of people. Great training staff, training interns, picking me up, driving me. My family, my wife, all of them are sick now,” Cannon said with a laugh. “My teammates, it was a big effort. I’m just thankful for everybody that helped me and love them all.”

In the end, it was little surprise to Cannon’s teammates that he fought through illness to step up on game day.

“It’s Marcus," teammate Isaiah Wynn said. "Marcus is through-and-through tough. It’s not too much of a surprise.”

Cannon didn’t comment on whether he thought he’d play Sunday when he woke up. All he had to say on the matter was that, even when it comes to an illness, he was doing his job. In this case, that just meant doing whatever the medical staff said.

After the game, Cannon was clearly drained, still dealing with the illness as he stood at his locker. So, how did he feel?

“Thankful," Cannon said. "There’s been guys before me and there’s been guys today that played when they’re sick.”

But not all of them got a standalone shout out from Belichick after a game.