No Joshin’: All is well
Coach OK with Brady absence
FOXBORO — Josh McDaniels said he wasn’t bothered by not having Tom Brady around for the voluntary phase of the Patriots’ offseason program.
According to McDaniels, no harm, no foul — or at least that’s how the offensive coordinator spun it when the assistant coaches met with the me- dia yesterday.
“Obviously, it’s a voluntary part of our year. We don’t have any control over it. As coaches, selfishly, we always want them all here. That’s where we have the most fun, and you enjoy working with them all,” said McDaniels, “but I totally understand those things happen. It’s happened here before. And I have no doubt he’s doing what he thinks is right for him and his family. And I completely respect that. I know he’ll be ready to go, he’ll be in good shape and good condition. I know he’s working really hard, and I’m not really worried about that.”
McDaniels offered the same sentiment toward tight end Rob Gronkowski, who has also opted to do his own thing and stay away while the rest of the team puts in the work at Gillette.
It’s probably not the most optimal situation for McDaniels, who doesn’t have a lot of time to get the offense in sync, but he wasn’t going to throw Brady or Gronkowski under the bus.
McDaniels indicated he’s had conversations with both, and appears to be on the same page with his two stars although he claimed he didn’t know if Brady would be attending mandatory minicamp. He didn’t want to divulge the nature of their conversations.
“I’ve seen Rob. I’ve talked with both of them,” McDaniels said. “Generally, the thing about this time of year, unless we’re in the meeting room, we’re not talking about football. We’re talking about how things are going outside of this place. It’s a good time of year to do that.”
It’s also a good time of year for the quarterback to get acquainted with the new personnel in his offense, and start forming some chemistry. Phase three, which is often referred to as passing camp, is right around the corner. It’s the period before minicamp (June 5-7).
McDaniels didn’t downplay the significance of having Brady, but also didn’t suggest it was necessary to have him or Gronkowski this time of year.
“You’ve got to work with what you got. It’s not the only two that aren’t out there. We’ve got guys that are battling through injuries, or rehabbing or those kind of things. That’s our life as coaches,” he said. “We don’t know which group of guys we’re going to have each week during the season, each week during the offseason. So, whatever number is out there, whichever positions are out there, our job is try to work with those guys and help them improve.”
As for Brady playing catch-up, or the receivers being behind with him in terms of communication and other factors, McDaniels referred everyone back to the start of the 2016 season. Brady was banished from the facility during the first four weeks of the season, didn’t play due to his league-imposed suspension over Deflategate, and when he came back, it was like he hadn’t missed a beat.
“You can never predict how it’s going to go. I think we saw a few years ago he came back after four weeks gone, there wasn’t a huge gap there in terms of what he was used to doing, so you evaluate where each guy’s at, and try to make the best decisions going forward from there, whether it’s an injury, or something like this where they make a personal decision to do something a little different,” said McDaniels. “Again, integrating them with their teammates, I think it’s something that happens organically.”
Asked if he was worried about Brady possibly retiring this offseason, McDaniels said he didn’t think the quarterback would ride off into the sunset just yet.
“Again, I can control what I can control,” he said. “Some of that stuff you hear, some of that stuff you’re not aware of. But, I’m pretty excited to have the opportunity to coach that guy. I have for a long time. And I will be again this year.”
Yes, Brady is returning for at least two more years. He’s just going about the offseason a little differently, to which McDaniels says, “No problem.” He’ll simply coach the players who are in the building.