Jedd Fisch’s departure for the University of Arizona left a hole on the Patriots’ coaching staff for the final two games of the regular season. Fisch coached the quarterbacks.
The Patriots shuffled Fisch’s weekly duties, with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels doubling as the quarterbacks coach.
In other words, McDaniels now is doing what he has always done.
This season was the first that McDaniels didn’t serve as the quarterbacks coach along with his offensive coordinator title.
“I’ll just do what I’ve done most of the time I’ve been here – take that responsibility back,” McDaniels said, via Mark Daniels of The Providence Journal. “You know, all the quarterback meetings, tip sheets, those kind of things. He and I worked together on a lot of that stuff. He certainly did work on his own without me, but we worked together with that group and position group. It won’t be completely unorthodox for those guys, the final two weeks. Yeah, we’ll be able to handle that kind of the way most of my career has gone here.”
McDaniels had the quarterbacks coach duties from 2012-15 before Jerry Schuplinski served as the assistant quarterbacks coach from 2016-18. Last season, Mick Lombardi took over that role.
“If I wasn’t needed in a different room or wasn’t going to be a part of another meeting, you can actually use a little bit of that time to get ahead of third down or red zone or your thought process,” McDaniels said. “If you’re not doing that, sometimes the staff has to wait for your after practice, in the evening and the nights can get long and drawn out. Having a guy you can trust in that role to function, communicate well, prepare the quarterbacks, watch the tape with them, go through the cut ups, reminders – run game, pass game, protection, etc. – it’s a big help. There’s no question about it.”