FOXBORO -- Call it the Curse of Jabar Gaffney.

In the post-2004 era, the Patriots have struggled to find a consistent third option at wide receiver. The only No. 3 receiver who consistently had success in the New England passing game was Gaffney, who caught 85 passes for 1,059 yards and eight touchdowns in three seasons (2006 through 2008) with the Patriots despite the fact that he was unquestionably the third receiver behind Randy Moss and Wes Welker.

“Jab could do everything well,” quarterback Tom Brady recalled before practice on Wednesday. “I think that’s his versatility, he’s got good size, he’s got long arms, he’s got good speed, he’s got good quickness, he plays every position, he’s smart.

“He’s just one of those guys that, from the day we got him here, he was just so reliable and dependable because he knew what to do and he did it well. You gain a lot of trust from the quarterback when all those things match up. I was bummed when he went to Denver, and I was bummed when he went to Washington, and here we are playing them.”

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Gaffney, who has emerged as one of the most dependable targets in his first season in the Washington offense (his 46 catches for 655 yards are second on the Redskins, and he’s tied for the top spot on the team with three receiving touchdowns), will get a chance to go up against his old mates this week when the Patriots travel to Washington for a date with the Redskins.

Since Gaffney got a monster deal from the Broncos following the 2008 season, the Patriots have struggled to find a third option at receiver. Whether it was Joey Galloway, Brandon Tate, Julian Edelman, Chad Ochocinco or even Taylor Price, no one has managed to find a real niche in the New England passing game.

On a conference call with New England reporters Wednesday, Gaffney gave his two cents on the New England passing game, and why it might be so hard for some receivers to pick up in things.

“It’s a pretty tough offense and if you’re not really used to it, it can be a little overwhelming,” Gaffney said. “With [Patriots coach] Bill [Belichick] ... if you don’t know your stuff, he’s not going to put you out there and trust you in those situations.

“You have to be smart out there, you have to know everything. You could have four or five different routes on each play, but you’ve got to get on the same page with the quarterback and reading the defense at the same time.”

Gaffney said the secret is understanding the quarterback, who he calls “the best in the game and definitely, definitely the best quarterback I’ve played with.”

“[You have] to look at yourself as the No. 1, because on any play, Brady probably does the best job of any quarterback of reading the play and he’ll get it to you. You want to be reliable on that side, because if he comes to you, you gotta make plays.

“He pretty much let’s you know what he expects and puts in a lot of work, so I was always the guy that didn’t mind putting in work, so we got on the same page real quick.”

On Wednesday, it was clear that Gaffney -- in his first season with the Redskins -- still has an affection for the Patriots, and Belichick in particular.

“It was the best,” Gaffney said of his time playing for Belichick. “He pretty much ... he gave me a lot of insight on the NFL. A great coach. He makes his players be students of the game. He helped me out a lot. He’s the man.

“I’ll never forget what I learned there, playing under Belichick. Like I said, he taught me a lot about the NFL and how to survive in the NFL and how to be a great player.”

“Of course, we know Jabar’s an excellent route-runner,” Belichick said of Gaffney. “He’s a good receiver. He’s a very disciplined, dependable guy. He and (Santana) Moss do a good job for them on the outside. They do a number of different things. They change their passing game around from week to week.

“[Washington head coach] Mike [Shanahan] and [offensive coordinator] Kyle [Shanahan] do a good job of that. They have a lot of core concepts but they build them from different core formations, different personnel groups and then they usually have a few patterns each week that really attacks that particular team they’re playing, whether it’s the individual personnel or the scheme they’re using.

“And Jabar, we know, is a real intelligent receiver and very instinctive and I’m sure he handles those things well for them, taking routes they haven’t really run before and putting them in for that game and then running them in a way that hurts the team they’re playing. That’s a big part of what they do, also.”