Broncos: McDaniels 'Doesn't Even Know Our Offense'
BOSTON (CBS) – The Denver Broncos are busy enough getting ready for the New England Patriots defense, but are they concerned their former head coach will be on the opposing sidelines for Saturday night's playoff matchup at Gillette Stadium?
"No, because he doesn't even know our offense," Broncos head coach John Fox said on a conference call Tuesday about Josh McDaniels joining the Patriots this week. "Our offense is completely different."
McDaniels manned the Broncos sideline for a season-and-a-half from 2009-2010, and was the man who drafted quarterback Tim Tebow and receiver Demaryius Thomas among others. He was fired after a 3-9 start to the 2010 season, and took over as offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams this season. But New England swooped in and hired him to replace Bill O'Brien as offensive coordinator last weekend, and will now have him (and O'Brien) on their side Saturday night against Denver.
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"I'll stay away from that all together because that's out of my hands," said Broncos guard and former Patriot, Russ Hochstein. "That is what it is... like we said earlier."
"I hope all the coaches – ours and theirs – bring it all to the table," said Fox. "We change players routinely between teams, and for that matter, we change coaches routinely between teams. So I don't think that's anything new and different."
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For Tebow, he wishes nothing but the best for the man who drafted him. At least before and after the game on Saturday, just not during.
"He's a very good coach, and I wish him nothing but the best," Tebow said of McDaniels. "I'm very thankful for him having the confidence in drafting me, but I'm very excited about the coaches we have here – [Offensive Coordinator] Coach [Mike] McCoy, [Quarterbacks] Coach [Adam] Gase, [Head] Coach [John] Fox – and those coaches have done a great job. I've very thankful for playing for those coaches. I'm looking forward to playing a great team in New England. It will be a very exciting game."
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"It will be fun. It will be exciting," he said of playing his former coach. "Not just because of that, but because we're playing the New England Patriots. We get a chance to play Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in Foxboro. It's another round in the playoffs, and that's exciting. Congratulations to him for getting that position, but, honestly, we're not thinking about it. We're focused on playing a very good New England Patriots team. The rest is the rest."
Tune in to the Patriots-Broncos playoff game Saturday night at 8pm on 98.5 The Sports Hub and WBZ-TV. Pregame coverage begins Saturday at 5pm with Patriots Preview on 98.5, with a special edition of Patriots GameDay on WBZ-TV at 7pm. After the game, stay tuned for Patriots Postgame on The Hub, and Patriots 5th Quarter on WBZ-TV.
