TRANSCRIPT: Josh McDaniels Press Conference 10/23
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Here’s what New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels had to say during his press conference with reporters on Thursday, October 23, 2025:
On his thoughts on Drake Maye’s decision-making when it comes to sliding, running, and how how much of that is an ongoing week-to-week, day-to-day type of conversation:
“Certainly, I think we’ve addressed what we think the right thing to do is. I think he’s a competitive guy, and I think certainly making sure that he’s available for the team is the priority. He’s got to balance doing the things that help us make really good plays in those situations because he’s an athletic guy who’s going to be able to make some things happen when he runs versus making sure that he protects himself at the end. Certainly, he’s seen them, too. It’s just about making a good decision in the moment each time you do it. Really, that’s a good way for a quarterback to put the team first in that situation. Just remind yourself that if, “I’m not out here, then I can’t really help us win.” We’ll keep addressing it, but I think he knows.”
On the fact Jason McCourty talked on the broadcast about Stef’s ability to have late hands, and from a wide receiver’s perspective, what does that mean and why is Stef so good at that?
“It takes time to learn. We can talk about it all we want in the meetings and show them examples of that. Defensive backs in those contested catch situations are usually taught to mirror the hands of the receiver. As soon as you bring your hands up, then they can either go through the pocket, bring a hand down, try to get the ball out, because you’re basically telling them that the ball is arriving. I think the really good receivers that you see in this league that in a contested situation, especially on the boundary, that’s where normally they take place, they just basically hold it to the very last second and don’t give the defensive back any opportunity to play through the pocket and create an incompletion. Randy [Moss] was spectacular at it, probably the best I’ve ever seen when we had him here. I know I didn’t teach him how to do that. It was just these guys are really skilled guys, and when there’s a ball in the air and they see it and they know they’re in a tight situation like that, it’s really up to the guy to try to hide the fact that the ball is coming in the air. Last week, we talked about the back shoulders, and this one’s a different type of play where the corner really… You can tell them when the ball’s coming, or you can try to hide it as late as you can. I thought Stef did a great job on the one on Sunday.”
On how formidable Cleveland’s front four is when he looks at them on tape this week:
“Very. This is as big a challenge as we’ve had all year. No question. I think their front four is exceptional, and it’s not just Miles [Garrett]. I mean, he’s one of the truly great players in the league, no question about it, and presents all kinds of issues. But I think their front in general is very disruptive. It’s a penetrating front. They’re going to try to get into the backfield and create negative runs. This is as good of a pass rush as we’ve seen in total. Linebackers are super fast, and because you spend so much time trying to block the four guys on the ball, they have a lot of opportunities to run and tackle, and they do a great job of that. They’re very fast, all of them. Young kid inside does a great job of getting everybody connected and set in the defense. Secondary is, sticky in coverage. They play a good chunk of man-to-man coverage, probably as much as we’ve seen from any opponent this year. Blended in with their different zone calls.”
“They also are very adept at reading the fact that the rush is getting close. The sign of a good defense to me is when they’re all kind of connected together. When the rush is getting close to the quarterback, it seems like the secondary always knows it. Then they get tighter, and then they’re ready for the ball to be thrown. I’d say, and Coach Schwartz has always done a tremendous job. This is one of the best coached units in all of football, certainly the way they play, physical, fast, aggressive, really good football players at all three levels, challenge you on every down, don’t give you anything easy. And obviously, statistically, pick one, and they’re at the top of the league.”
On Jim Schwartz and what is it he’s doing differently with Miles Garrett?
“You want him to be in one spot, but he’s not. So you start with that. It’s always a little simpler if you can say, ‘Well, he’s going to be in this spot only,’ and that’s not the case. He’s more one spot than the rest. But we’ve shown our guys, they’re all going to have to block him, and they’re all going to have to be ready to block him. Moving him is one thing, and he understands how people try to play him. You can just see the player. We played him four or five years ago, and you just see him when you’re watching the film now. He’s grown, too, because he can tell what people are trying to do to disrupt him. So he’s got countermoves to their countermoves, and it’s pretty cool to watch that matchup happen from game to game with him. But he can win on the interior, he can win on the edge, he can play on the right, he certainly plays on the left. So I think moving him and helping him find some opportunities to get singles is certainly, I’m sure, their goal, and they do a great job of it.”
On the fact the run game was more efficient last week and what was working and how can he ensure they can keep the ball rolling against a formidable defense:
“I thought the guys deserve all the credit. Again, we’ve stayed patient and consistent with our approach in terms of trying to improve the things that make the running game go. Really, it’s not a complicated formula. It’s just getting people blocked, staying on blocks, playing with great effort and finish, good technique and fundamentals, the runners reading it right. I thought [Rhamondre] Mondre really did a good job of pushing the pile a few times and created some dirty yards. But I just …the guys are continuing to work at those things. There’s no shortcut to getting better at something, especially in the running game when it requires a level of physicality and toughness that we can’t always practice in pads. So I thought our double teams were a little bit more consistent. I thought we had some good blocks from the receivers at the second level, and I thought the runner ran hard. Just got to keep doing it. This week will be a totally different style of defense. This is going to be a little bit of a different challenge, but a huge one nonetheless.”
On the factors in the run game and if he sees any common themes scheme-wise and if the offensive line is finding out what it’s good at, or is this still too much noise within the numbers to say, ‘Okay, we know what we’re best at?’
“I think we’re always learning about what we’re… I think we know what we’ve shown to be best at yet, but I think there’s a lot of reasons to continue to try to get better at other things. Everybody loves it when we run a bootleg, but you can’t run bootlegs if you don’t run the plays that the bootlegs come off of. You got to continue to try to work at some of those things if they’re giving you something over here. Same thing with play-action passes. When you’re running an interior run, Mack Collins had a 30-yard gain on an inside run action, and we hit him for an inside pass, and that’s great. But if you never run that run, then they’re not going to play that way. I think there’s a balance between continuing to try to work at something that you just don’t think you’re ever going to turn the corner on. The other things where you’re saying, ‘You know what? We’re close on this. We just got to do a few things better.’ I’d say this is too early in the season to cast the die on something being, ‘We got to throw it out and never come back to it.’ I think we know what we’ve done best so far. I think there’s other things we want to try to improve and get better at. I don’t think that’s dissimilar to any other year that I’ve coached, though. I mean, you usually are better at something in October than you are something else. At some point here, you make a decision about whether or not to continue to do it or not.
On if there’s anything specific with TreVeyon Henderson that he’s looking to see and maybe get him more involved, or was it just circumstance in this last game that he was …
“I think it was really circumstantial. I mean, Rhamondre, runners are kind of … You get into a rhythm, and sometimes that happens. I know TreVeyon’s led us in carries in other games, and certainly Mondre did last week. So there’s nothing specific. I think all those guys are continuing to work really hard. They play an active role in us improving ourselves in the running game. Everybody wants to point out this block or that block or what have you. There’s a read element to it, and there’s a cohesion that has to exist between the blockers and the runners. I think our runners are continuing to really work hard at that, meeting together with the guys up front. That’s the way you get better. So expect all those guys. I thought Terrell [Jennings] went in there and did some good things at the end, too. Continue to expect the runners to be productive.”
On the fact Drake Maye said something after the game the other day about how he’s not trying to be a ‘check down Charlie,’ I think he was asked about throwing a ball down the field and if this a week where he might encourage him to maybe, as good as he’s been down the field, dial back some of his aggressiveness just because the opponent they’re facing tends to get into the backfield pretty quickly:
“Yeah, I think the opponent always has something to say about how long you can hold it. There’s no question about that. I didn’t hear the comment, but I think that in general, look, if he has a chance, great. There’s certain plays where you call them and you don’t expect the ball to go 40 yards down the field, but the defense gave him an opportunity. I think you don’t ever want to take that away from the passer. It’s his ability to see the deep part of the field and see the coverage, and then it presents an opportunity, even though maybe you didn’t call it for that reason, and then all of a sudden you take advantage of it. I think we want to continue to do that. I think the biggest thing is if he starts making mistakes, and I’m not talking about just Drake, I’m talking about any quarterback, if they start to make mistakes, throwing the ball down the field into coverage, and there’s a bunch of interceptions and really bad decisions, then you know you’re probably forcing the ball too much. If you’re throwing the ball well down the field, it probably means the passer is seeing it well and then trying to take advantage of it when it’s presented. I think that’s what we want them to continue to do and understand that the rush will dictate, at times, especially this week, that we may need a few of those Charlie check downs.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This transcript was done based on the available footage and is subject to typographical errors. If you spot anything, please let me know in the comments below.)
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