But on Sunday, the Patriots’ defense may face its biggest test yet in Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, who is arguably the most complete quarterback in the league.

Jordy Nelson (left) of the Packers is already over 1,000 receiving yards this season, thanks in no small part to quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

The superlatives for Rodgers began on Wednesday morning at Gillette Stadium, when Patriots coach Bill Belichick met with reporters, and continued through Tom Brady’s news conference and into the locker room interviews with defensive players.

“He’s a great player. He does a tremendous job, at everything. No weak points,” Belichick said. “Makes every throw. Handles the team very well at the line. Checks and adjustments, he certainly sees the defense well, uses all of his weapons, makes great throws, the short ones, intermediate, down the field, sideline, back shoulders, deep routes, then he has a great ability to extend plays, either sliding in the pocket or at times scrambling outside the pocket. They’ve made a lot of plays this year on things like that, where he either buys extra time or flat-out gets away from the rush and lets the receivers uncover.

“He’s a hard guy to tackle, hard guy to get, very hard thrower, very accurate thrower, has great vision. He’s really good.”


Though the Patriots and Packers have met twice since Rodgers was drafted in 2005, he did not start either game. He came on in relief of Brett Favre in Green Bay’s 35-0 loss in 2006, and was injured when the Packers came to Foxborough four years ago, a game won, 31-27, by the Patriots.

The league MVP in 2011, Rodgers is in the conversation to win the award again this year. After getting off to a 1-2 start, the Packers have won seven of their last eight games, winning by an average of 22 points.


Rodgers has 30 touchdown passes and just three interceptions, all of the picks coming on the road, and two of them in a loss to New Orleans a month ago. He hasn’t thrown an interception at Lambeau Field since December 2012, though he played just four home games last year because of injury.

Eighteen of his touchdown passes this year have come at Lambeau, where the Packers are 5-0.

When asked why he’s better at home, Rodgers said, “I’m not sure exactly. We’ve scored a lot of points, our defense has done a great job creating a lot of turnovers. We’ve gotten up on teams pretty consistently the last four times we’ve played at home. [Getting on] a roll early and the defense giving you some short fields just gives you a lot of confidence as a quarterback. We’ve been able to hit some big plays over the last four home games. That’s kind of why the numbers look the way they do.”

The Packers have made a habit of getting off to fast starts. They lead the NFL with 114 first-quarter points.

Asked what the similarities are between Rodgers and Brady as they’ve both led their teams through early-season troubles, Belichick flatly said, “They both wear No. 12.”

Brady smiled when Belichick’s comment was relayed to him, then gave his assessment of his fellow northern California native.

“He’s just phenomenal,” Brady said. “He’s just a great player. I always love watching him play, because he does things that a lot of guys in the league can’t do — well, that nobody can do except for him.


“For a quarterback, I really know how hard it is to do that, especially on a consistent basis, and he’s been consistent as anybody who has ever played the position, so I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”

A reporter began a question to Belichick about the number of mobile quarterbacks the team has faced recently, such as the Colts’ Luck and the Lions’ Matthew Stafford, but Belichick cut the questioner off.

“Not like him,” he said.

What makes Rodgers different?

“He’s great. He’s quick, he’s big, he’s fast, throws the ball very accurately, and has great vision down the field,” Belichick said. “He finds guys that there’s not a lot of space, but he finds them and then he hits them. Not taking anything away from anybody else, but this guy’s a really good player.”

Rodgers has completed 66.7 percent of his passes this season, with the bulk going to Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb. Nelson is one of six receivers who has already topped 1,000 yards for the season (on 68 catches), and Cobb has 58 catches with 10 touchdowns.

“We believe that Aaron Rodgers is our biggest test yet,” said Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis. “The guy is awesome. We’re looking forward to it.”

Week 13: Packers 26, Patriots 21

Shalise Manza Young can be reached at syoung@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @shalisemyoung.