FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Since being acquired by the New England Patriots in a trade with the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 22, defensive end/linebacker Akeem Ayers has played 327 of a possible 418 defensive snaps (78.2 percent).

His stat line: 13 tackles, three quarterback sacks, one interception, and generally solid play against the run.

Ayers has been a midseason steal for the Patriots, who traded a sixth-round draft choice to Tennessee in exchange for Ayers and a seventh-rounder. With the Titans struggling and set to pick near the top of each round, and the Patriots set to pick near the bottom, the trade basically was about the Patriots moving down in the draft around 10-20 spots.

On Sunday before the 24-13 win against the Chargers, the point was made that we didn't think we'd be asking the question, "Where would the Patriots be without Ayers?" Then the 6-foot-3, 255-pound Ayers delivered another strong performance, which had coach Bill Belichick talking about him again on Wednesday morning.

"He played outside linebacker in college and at Tennessee, and he played defensive end in sub situations, which is pretty common for a lot of guys like him, a Rob Ninkovich type of guy," Belichick said, pointing out that in the six games he's been with New England, the team has mostly been in sub defense which has had Ayers at end.

"He has done about what we expected him to do. He learned very quickly, got on the field quickly, has a lot of position flexibility physically, and has a lot of position flexibility mentally in terms of assignments -- rushing, covering, man coverage, zone coverage. He has a good feel for the game. He's a smart guy, an instinctive player -- like Rob, but different than Rob."