Back on the job
McDaniels, Patricia done interviewing
PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK
FOXBORO — From courtship to film study, a pair of Patriots coordinators are familiar with making a smooth transition at this time of year.
Pats offensive boss Josh McDaniels and defensive guru Matt Patricia were hot commodities during the bye weekend, as they combined to conduct five interviews for head coaching vacancies.
McDaniels met with the Rams, 49ers and Jaguars, who last night gave the job to interim coach Doug Marrone. It’s the third time he went on the interview circuit since rejoining the Patriots during the 2011 postseason. McDaniels spoke with the Browns in 2014 and 49ers and Falcons in 2015.
“It’s humbling,” he said. “It’s a privilege to have an opportunity to do any of those things. I feel very fortunate to have an opportunity to sit in front of those people, that they would listen to me and spend time with me. Just got to do the best you can to represent yourself, your team, your organization that you come from, your family as best you can, and all the rest of it will play out how it’s supposed to play out.”
Patricia, who interviewed last year with the Browns, met with the Rams and Chargers.
“My respect to Houston is where all my attention is,” Patricia said, noting the Patriots’ divisional round opponent this Saturday. “But I would say, in general, with maybe any interview process, to me, the fascinating part of all of that is just learning all the different organizations and how they work because they are so different. And that’s just kind of a general statement about the NFL. Sometimes, you just kind of anchor into what we do day in and day out, you never really look at that stuff on a full scale, but they’re fascinating.
“It’s very fascinating, the NFL, in general, and the organizations and how they’re operated. It’s really cool. But again Houston is where I’m at.”
Patricia was appreciative for his chance to go through the process for a second time as his profile has risen in recent years.
“Obviously, over the weekend, I was just very thankful for those opportunities,” he said. “It was a great experience to go through. I think everything right now for me is Houston, flip the page as soon as I can.”
The players were off from Friday through Sunday, while the coaches got a quick break, too. The full team returned to Gillette Stadium yesterday for meetings and will practice for the next three days in anticipation of its playoff opener at Gillette Stadium.
McDaniels and Patricia won’t have any issues with keeping their attention on the job.
“I think, honestly, we’ve been trained to switch gears and really tie our focus into the thing that is at hand,” McDaniels said. “If it’s a workday, we know where our focus is going to lie. It’s absolutely going to be on the Texans this week, and I’m looking forward to getting ready to go.”
Match game
If the Patriots’ previous pair of meetings with the Texans are any indication, cornerback Logan Ryan will draw star wideout DeAndre Hopkins and Malcolm Butler will take Will Fuller.
But it’s not that simple. The Patriots changed their coverages over the last two months with Butler on the left, Ryan in the slot and Eric Rowe on the right. The Pats surely aren’t tipping their hand.
“No matter who I’m up against, I’m ready to play,” Butler said. “(Hopkins or Fuller), no matter, I’m just going to go out there to do what I’ve got to do to help my team win.”
Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler was 0-for4 when targeting Butler in the Pats’ 27-0 win in Week 3. He was 5-of-8 for 74 yards when throwing at Ryan with all but an 18-yard completion to Hopkins.
Ryan has been playing strong since Week 11 and handled Hopkins well in the past. It’s possible the Pats could tinker with the matchups. The important thing is to execute the game plan, whatever that is.
“Went out there with a good mentality, mentality to stop the pass, and not give up any deep balls and take away their key weapons,” Butler said. “So that’s all we did.”
Praise for the boss
Both McDaniels and Patricia talked about their time with Bill Belichick. They might have gotten him a “World’s Best Boss” coffee mug afterward.
“To be real honest with you, coach Belichick is unbelievable,” Patricia said. “He’s one of the smartest football coaches I’ve ever been around. . . . I’m just really obviously very fortunate and blessed to be able to work in this situation.”
McDaniels added, “He does a good job of identifying the way we need to do it to win. Nobody does it better than he does.”