TRANSCRIPT: Josh McDaniels Press Conference 1/22
New England Patriots coordinator Josh McDaniels speaks ahead of the AFC Championship Game.
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Here’s what New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels had to say during his press conference with the media on Thursday, January 22, 2026.
On what Rhamondre [Stevenson] means to this team this year as a pass catcher:
“He’s very dependable. I think if you’re in the game as a pass catcher, you have to also be in there as a blitz protector. If all you can do is go in there and release into the patterns, it’s hard to hide that from the defense. So I think his ability to block blitzes and protect the quarterback has allowed him to play a role as a pass catcher, and I think he’s improved significantly in both of those areas over the course of his career. He’s got a broad route tree, really good hands, and a really good understanding of what to do to help the quarterback and be friendly to him. Just not a lot that I wouldn’t say complementary about ‘Mondre in the passing game.”
On the fact he had Jarrett [Stidham] in Vegas and what he liked about him:
“Smart, accurate, great human being, worked hard, great teammate, just hadn’t had an opportunity based on the situations and those kind of things. But no, I just enjoyed working with him, enjoyed my time with him, and I’m sure he’ll be ready to go this week, for sure.”
On the fact Sean Payton mentioned he studied some of their film during offseason studies and such and if there’s anything about his play calling or formationally or anything about his offense that he’s taken or has used as part of this system:
“Definitely. I think we all admire the guys that do it the best and try to, whether you want to call it steal or learn, pick a winner. I’ve been watching Sean’s tape as long as I’ve been coaching offense. I think he’s been one of the premier coaches in the National Football League, period, not just on offense, but for a long, long time. Going back to when Drew [Brees] and all the different things they used to do, it was always fun to have an opportunity to watch those guys operate because they did it at such a high level. So not shocking that we would be playing Sean’s team this week.”
On the fact Mike [Vrabel] said yesterday that sometimes operation not being on the same page can lead to turnovers, and if there are situations where something might look like it’s Drake [Maye]’s fault for a turnover, or it might wind up being something completely different:
“Certainly. That doesn’t mean that that’s what happened in one case or another. But I think turnovers are … Everybody always focuses on the one person that touched it last. A lot of times, turnovers have more of a team complexion to it than what you may understand just with the naked eye, whether that be protection or somebody finishing a play or the route concept and what they saw together in terms of trying to throw the ball accurately and well. So there’s a lot of things that go into it. I’d say no matter what we want to talk about, we need to do it a little better than what we’ve done in a few games recently. Certainly, it’s been a big thing when we’ve won this year. We’ve really tried to focus on making sure that we take care of the football, and absolutely going to be paramount this week in Denver.”
On the fact Drake plays with a calculated aggression where when he does take his shots, he rarely throws into bad windows, and how much of that is a natural ability …
“He throws into what?”
Doesn’t really throw in the bad windows when he takes his shots. How much of that is maybe natural ability and how much of that is something that you work on in practice and maybe something to grow with:
“I think his ability to throw the ball downfield, you can attribute a lot of that, and most of it to his natural ability. I think when you’re trying to be aggressive in this game against these teams that we’re playing against now, you better be calculated because you’re usually throwing against good players, against good scheme, coaches that are trying to discourage you from doing it. So it’s going to be important to really identify what you’re dealing with when the ball is snapped, because a lot of times you’re not going to see the truth until you have the ball in your hands. And then once they go ahead and start to play the coverage once the ball’s been snapped. Now you got to make good decisions about, ‘is this a good opportunity for us or am I wasting a play? Or it’s a low percentage play?’ So I think he’s done a nice job of that all year. Hopefully, we’ll have some opportunities this week to make some explosives and do those kind of things, too. We’ll see. But yeah, he’s definitely going to have to be disciplined this week.”
On the fact when it comes to Drake, he’s seemingly risen to every challenge this year as the games have gotten bigger and in that sense, can he put this game in perspective and what is he expecting from him this Sunday:
“I’m expecting him to play well. I’ve expected him to play well all year, and he hasn’t let us down. I think you realize these games are not going to go just one direction. It’s like a great boxing match. I don’t think either guy leaves the ring at the end of the fight if it’s a 12-round split decision where one of them thinks they really got the better of the other. When you’re playing in the playoffs against the best players, the best coaches, the best teams at this the time of the year that are playing their best, which is really what this is all about, there’s going to be some plays in the game that you got to live through and survive, and you got to come back and play your best football as the game goes on and make enough plays to win, which is all that matters. He’s preparing the same way he’s prepared every week this year. I know he’ll be ready to go, and we expect all our guys to go out there and play well.”
On the fact it’s been a while since you’ve talked to [the media] before an AFC Championship, and what does it mean to him to lead a group of guys into this stage again:
“It’s what we do it for. This is the reason that we work hard. Obviously, it’s exciting for the organization. It’s exciting for everybody that’s a part of the organization. There’s a lot of people that put a lot into this, and to still be playing and be one of the four that are left. It’s an honor, and it’s an opportunity that you shouldn’t take lightly because you never know when you’re going to get it again. You’ve earned it if you’re here, and you can do everything you can between now and kick off and the finish of the game to see if you can’t give yourself the best opportunity to win. It’s a great opportunity for us. Excited to be a part of it and look forward to competing on Sunday.”
On knowing Denver and what it’s like to play on both sides there with the crowd, and the way the Broncos anticipate stap count, besides using just the silent count, what the keys are to counteract it:
“If you play well and you make positive plays, you can kind of minimize some of it. You’re never going to take it away unless you’re really out in front. I think it’s just more of accepting what you’re going to deal with the entire afternoon, which is a great atmosphere. Incredible fan base that’s going to make it hard on the opposing offense. Our communication is going to be important. Everything we do leading up to each play is going to be vital and critical to having success. The better we do, the less you deal with it. We understand that. Obviously, this is an incredible unit that we’re getting ready to play against. They’ll have something to say with regard to that, too. So just no shortcuts to it. Got to deal with it on every play. Our communication, our operation, the pace that we go at since you’re not fighting it late. That’d be important for us, too. But we’ve dealt with it decent throughout the course of the year, and we’re certainly going to need to deal with it well on Sunday.”
On the operational part and how he’s viewed [inaudible – potentially Will Campbell’s] postseason experience:
“Again, it’s never a straight line. You know what I mean? I think Will’s … we have a lot of young players that are playing, and I think there’s a lot that’s been learned over the last two games by a lot of people. That’s a good thing. You’re never going to go into the playoffs as a young player and just dominate your matchup the entire time. It’s really difficult to imagine. I think between Drake and TreVeyon [Henderson] and Jared [Wilson] Will and Kyle [Williams], and I’m sure there’s guys on defense that have learned a lot, too. You’re playing against really good players. You’re playing against really good coaches. There’s going to be some ups and downs in the game that you have to persevere through. That’s the nature of the National Football League in the postseason. I’m encouraged by the way all of our guys have taken these experiences and tried to benefit from them and improve so that we might be able to better this week and beyond. Encouraged, loved the way he’s responded. Again, there’s always going to be some plays that you wish you did a little bit better here and there, but that’s across the board. I’m excited to watch him play on Sunday.”
On Denver’s defense that’s done such a great job of getting after the quarterback this year, and how does he balance helping his offensive lineman in certain situations versus getting guys out into the route, and if that’s a priority for him:
“I don’t think there’s one way to do it, Phil [Perry]. I really don’t. You’re going to have to… There’s some times where we’re going to have to do those kind of things where we get them out in the pattern, and everybody’s got to do their job and block the people that they’re responsible to block. There’s going to be other times where the scheme is somewhat of a… You assist with it to some degree.”
“I don’t think playing this defense and living in one thing is really going to be the way to go. I think it’s been difficult to watch people try to do that when they’ve done it intermittently throughout the course of a game or this season at all. Good defenses are tough to string together 10, 12 plays against. That’s why they’re good. We’re going to have to keep it moving. We’re going to have to try to stay balanced and productive when we do both things. If we do that, then you can try to minimize the significance of third and longs and those kind of things as you go through the course of the game. There’s going to be a lot of punches thrown on Sunday in a good way, I don’t mean that metaphorically. We’ll probably take a few, and hopefully we give one more than they give. We got to keep it moving, be productive with a lot of different things that we do. We know we’re going to need our best performance. This is as good a unit as we’ve played, and that’s saying a lot because we played some really good ones recently, but this team is right up there with them.”
(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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