FOXBORO -- Wide receiver Wes Welker is drawing a lot of attention for his mustache campaign this postseason, but when it comes to facial hair, linebacker Rob Ninkovich clearly has him beat.

The veteran is sporting a playoff beard that makes him look like the Brawny paper towel man in shoulder pads. It’s the sort of beard that would make Brian Wilson jealous. But beneath that righteous facial moss is a defender who has become of the most important members of the New England defense. A versatile player who has moved back and forth from defensive end to outside linebacker, he is one of only two players in the NFL this season who has at least six sacks and two interceptions. (Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs is the other.)

As the Patriots moved from a three-man front to a four-man front at the start of the season, the 6-foot-2, 255-pound Ninkovich was perhaps more affected than any member of the New England defense, and there were times where he appeared to struggle with the transition. But as the year has gone on (and the Patriots have occasionally flipped back to a three-man front), he’s appeared more comfortable in his responsibilities, looking equally adept standing up and setting the edge as an outside linebacker or working with his hand in the dirt as a defensive end.

“Playing a defensive end role for me is pretty simple. I’ve always been a defensive end,” the 27-year-old Ninkovich said Monday afternoon. “The linebacker spot, yeah there’s a lot of learning involved in that. Every year, there’s going to be something different that you have to learn and get better at as the season progresses. The 4-3 linebacker move really was a good move for the team, because obviously we could do different things on the field and change things up. I’m open to anything they ask me to do.”

Since a Week Eight loss to the Steelers -- certainly not the proudest moment for any member of the New England defense, Ninkovich, in his third season with the Patriots, has come on strong.

“His second half of the year has been extremely good, and much better than the first half. He’s only really had one very poor game, against Pittsburgh in Week 8 where he graded poorly across the board. From that game onwards, though, he has been very good,” analyst Sam Monson wrote in an email to WEEI.com when asked about Ninkovich’s steady progression.

“Since that game, he has recorded seven of the eight sacks we have him credited for, three of the six QB knockdowns and 20 of his 30 pressures on the season. He’s also been much more impressive in the run game, posting 25 stops in that time span, which is a little over 78 percent of the total stops he has for the season.

“He was also one of the better Patriots players in defending the option in both games against Denver, and would have had a fantastic grade for the first game if it wasn’t for a few missed tackles on Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow after trapping him behind the line of scrimmage.”

For Ninkovich, the second half improvements culminated Saturday night in the divisional playoffs against the Broncos, where he had five tackles (four solo), 1.5 sacks (for 9.5 yards), one tackle for loss, two quarterback hits and one forced fumble.

Overall, his Saturday night performance was part of the best defensive effort of the season across the board for New England. The Broncos were held to 136 passing yards and 252 total net yards by the Patriots, the fewest passing yards and net yards they allowed all season. Denver ran just six plays in New England territory in the first half, and quarterback Tim Tebow was sacked five times.

It was a cathartic performance for a group that has taken its share of slings and arrows on the season.

“You really can’t listen to anything outside of the locker room. We’re a tight-knit unit,” Ninkovich said. “The defense has kind of had their ups and downs this year, but in the big picture of things, I think that we’ve done really well in the turnover ratio. Especially with the way our team is made up, our offense is so potent, that if you can get them the ball obviously they’re going to do something with it.

“Obviously, we’ve let up some big plays that you don’t want to do as a defense and yardage that you don’t want to have. But when you look back on the season,” he added. “We didn’t let up a lot of points which obviously, if you’re letting up a lot of points, you’re not going to win. Turnovers and points, I think we did pretty good at.”

Next up for Ninkovich and the Patriots will be the AFC Championship Game against the Ravens Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. Baltimore is powered by mighty-mite running back Ray Rice, who finished the season with 1,364 rushing yards, 12 touchdowns and a whopping 4.7 yards per carry.

“They have great playmakers on offense with Ray Rice. As a running back, he’s always making good plays as a running back. You have to always respect him,” Ninkovich said of the 5-foot-8, 212-pounder out of Rutgers.

“He’s a little bit different because he’s a smaller, compact guy – real strong,” he added. “Kind of like a [Maurice] Jones-Drew guy: real strong at hitting the hole and is real fast, but also can catch the ball out of the backfield and make some plays in the passing game. He’s a target for them that really makes a lot of plays for them so you have to make sure that you account for him on the field at all times.”