FOXBORO — Only 38 players across the NFL this season have recorded at least one sack, an interception, a forced fumble and 50 tackles.

Hazard a couple guesses, and you should correctly land on a few familiar names: Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt, Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Willams and 49ers linebacker Fred Warner.

But would you believe three of those 38 are Patriots? And would you believe one is a popular fan piñata, whose name regularly gets dragged through internet mud and toxic talk radio sludge?

Yes, in addition to Jabrill Peppers and Jahlani Tavai, two late-blooming veterans enjoying career years, we have … Myles Bryant.

Bryant’s membership in that group might shock you. But his teammates? Not at all, they claim.

“I’m not surprised,” Tavai said.

“Of course he’s in there,” added cornerback Jonathan Jones.

Outside of Foxboro, Bryant is often associated with defensive lowlights. Two years ago, Bills slot receiver Isaiah McKenize repeatedly roasted Bryant when he made a rare spot start in a late-December loss that all but handed Buffalo the division title. Since then, most of the hybrid corner/safety’s reputation has preceded him and swallowed up his successful plays, which are also often overshadowed by his teammates.

To wit: in a tied game with 1:42 left last Sunday at Denver, Bryant was the only Patriots defender to sniff out and snuff a first-down screen pass during an all-out blitz. Had Bryant flown by Broncos running back Samaje Perine like the rest of his teammates, Perine would have run off and set up a game-winning score. Instead Bryant’s stop, in concert with two ensuing incompletions, allowed the Pats to mount a game-winning drive of their own.

Soon after Chad Ryland’s 56-yard field goal soared through the uprights, every story that flowed from that game involved Ryland’s kick, Zappe’s drive or Christian Barmore’s three sacks. Little was said or written about Bryant, except in the locker room post-game and then Wednesday morning. In both instances, Bill Belichick was Bryant’s champion.

“Hell of a job, man. You got anything left?” Belichick asked Bryant on Sunday night, while embracing the 5-foot-9 defensive back/return man.

And here was Belichick to reporters on Wednesday: “(Bryant) really made the game plan flow a lot smoother for us defensively because of his ability to move in and out of those positions against a team like Denver. They use a lot of different personnel groups, and they substitute very quickly. They do a good job. They make it hard on you. But, he really streamlined things for 10 other guys on the field.”

This is how Bryant is known inside Foxboro: a quiet, hard-working glue guy, much like Tavai has been to the front seven. Bryant is a puzzle piece within Belichick’s defense; small and unspectacular by himself, but essential to the big picture. Bryant’s ability to flip between nickelback and safety, drive to drive and play to play, has allowed Belichick to call plays from two personnel packages — three-safety nickel or three-corner nickel — without substituting.

“That’s the player I want to be and strive to be,” he said. “I think that’s what it looks like — doing everything on the field; whether it’s making tackles, making plays when the ball’s in the air or even getting in the backfield and getting to the quarterback. That’s the player that I want to be.”

So if the NFC-leading 49ers weaponizing All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey as a receiver and Pro Bowl receiver Deebo Samuel like a running back represents modern offense, versatile players like Bryant are Belichick’s modern answer. Not that Bryant would ever cop to that.

He’s just doing his job.

“I honestly don’t care,” Bryant said. “I just try to make an impact wherever I’m at.”

Bryant, who turns 26 next week and will become a free agent next spring, is never headed for stardom. He’s an undersized defensive back who runs a 4.6, and whose value lies in being able to execute multiple assignments well enough, but no thing so well he’s known or recognized for it. In New England, they treasure that type of skill set.

So long as Bryant is surrounded by corners like Jones or Christian Gonzalez, or safeties such as Peppers and Kyle Dugger, opponents are likely to pick on him. He’s already been targeted 42 times this season and allowed 60% of those passes to be completed for 371 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, per MassLive’s coverage charting. Bryant also broke up five other passes.

That attention is fine by Bryant.

All it means is more opportunities for another pick, sack or forced fumble; plays that one day might make fans see him like teammates and coaches have all along.