FOXBOROUGH — An under-the-radar player made one of the biggest plays of the game in last week’s win over the Jets.

With New York attempting to stage a late comeback, Justin Fields targeted tight end Jeremy Ruckert on a fourth-and-4 in the red zone, and backup safety Dell Pettus broke the pass up to force an incompletion.

After the win, as Patriots coach Mike Vrabel addressed the team in the locker room, the second-year defensive back was a focal point of his postgame speech.

“You can file Dell under the players who take advantage of their opportunity,” Vrabel said . “We know what that leads to: More opportunities.”

That was no surprise to Jeremy Springer.

The special teams coordinator has seen Pettus taking advantage of his opportunities on his units for two years now.

After mak

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