FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Quick hits from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday morning news conference:

Facing Spikes. Former Patriots and current Bills linebacker Brandon Spikes is now a team captain in his first season with Buffalo and an integral part of the team’s run defense. Spikes fills a similar role to the one he had with the Patriots. Belichick is familiar with his former linebacker. “We know him. Don’t think he’s changed much,” Belichick said. “Hair might be a little longer.”

Wright gaining ground. Tight end Tim Wright had a breakout game in the receiving game with five catches for 85 yards and a touchdown. As a converted wide receiver who is only in his second season in the NFL, Wright is still making the transition in the blocking game. “[Wright], like all of us, needs to keep working on that, needs to work on his blocking -- in the passing game, the run game, pass protection,” Belichick said. “He’s a second-year player who is really a conversion from another position in college. And there’s a lot of things he can work on.” Belichick added that Wright is working hard at improving his blocking skills to be a contributor in that aspect of the game. Belichick sees a lot of potential in Wright. “He works hard. Nobody works harder than Tim,” Belichick said. “He spends extra time in the classroom, extra time on the field. Works hard on the field. He does as much as he can do. Is he there yet? No. I’d say he is gaining on it steadily.”

A focus on the AFC East. With Sunday’s road game against Buffalo and a Thursday home game against the New York Jets the following week, the Patriots have two AFC East divisional games in five days. The Patriots have run away with the division in the past and winning these next two games can give the team a solid grip on the division. “To have success in this league, you have to do well in your division,” Belichick said. “So this is a game on the road and it’s an opportunity for us.”

Comparing Watkins to Fitzgerald? The Bills went all in to land rookie wide receiver Sammy Watkins in the draft. So far, he has showed exceptional skills for a young player. “He’s been impressive,” Belichick said. “Big, fast, very athletic, excellent hands and the catch that he had at the end of the game against Detroit was Larry Fitzgerald-like. He’s a tough guy to miss throwing the ball. He has a great catch radius. Long arms, good hands, strong hands. He’s pretty good.”

Amendola and wide receivers blocking. One of the areas of success for the Patriots in their victory over Cincinnati was in the run game, and specifically breaking bigger runs into the second level of the defense. Belichick discussed the importance of wide receivers making blocks in the run game and gave high praise to Danny Amendola. “That’s how you get big runs is running backs making guys miss in the second level and getting blocks from your wide receivers,” Belichick said. “Amendola had a great block on [Shane] Vereen’s draw play that he cut back on about a 12-14 yard run, whatever it was. Julian [Edelman] is a tough player. Brandon [LaFell], I mean those guys all go in there and block.”