Brandon Lloyd

FOXBORO — Brandon Lloyd obviously knows the Cardinals well from his time in the NFC West while playing for the Rams, so he certainly isn’t sleeping on the team that last season had both questions at quarterback and an 8-8 record.

On Wednesday, Lloyd sang the Cardinals’ praises for the second straight day, calling their defenders the “classic tough guys of the NFL” and acknowledging that the Patriots offense will have its hands full on Sunday.

Ultimately, when Lloyd looks at the Cardinals he sees a lot of good things that just didn’t start clicking until late last season, when they won five of their final six games. Including their Week 1 win over the Seahawks, the Cardinals are now winners of eight of their last 11 games. Given that, Lloyd sees no need for Bill Belichick to caution against underestimating Arizona.

“He doesn’t have to because these guys are guys who individually get a lot of respect around the league, and now that the philosophy is starting to be well-executed amongst the players, they’re a good team,” Lloyd said. “But even when I was thinking about that team [while I was playing] in St. Louis, they were always that team that could win every Sunday, but things just kind of fell apart and things didn’t fall into place for them, but they’re a good team, and individually those players get a lot of respect.”