Pats Pulpit
Returning after a three-year sabbatical that took him to Las Vegas and later the unemployment line, Josh McDaniels brought a familiar offense with him. While new wrinkles have been added, it bears a strong resemblance to the one he ran in his previous two stints as New England Patriots offensive coordinator.
For some players, that was a welcome sight. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson, wide receiver Kendrick Bourne and tight end Hunter Henry, for example, all have experience working under McDaniels. A majority of the team’s offensive roster, however, had not and was forced to adapt to a famously complex scheme.
For running back Antonio Gibson, who had yet to work McDaniels, that complexity holds the key to the Patriots’ offensive success.
“The details are crazy,” Gibson told reporters after Wednesday’s joint practice with the Washington Commanders. “He doesn’t play about that. There’s no sugar-coating it. You have to know the details.
“It’s one thing to know the offense, but the little things matter. Once those start clicking, you can see it. If we do the details right, we have a good play almost 90 percent of the time. And once you do something small, one player, it messes up everything. That’s what he instilled in us. So, once we get 11 guys on the same page, it’s almost unstoppable.”
Gibson spent four seasons in Washington before joining the Patriots on a three-year free agency pact last offseason. Appearing in all 17 games in 2024 as the No. 2 running back behind Rhamondre Stevenson, he touched the ball a combined 143 times for 744 yards and a touchdown.
After their underwhelming 4-13 season, the Patriots decided to clean house. As part of that process, previous offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt was replaced by McDaniels — a return to familiarity for some, but not all members of the organization.
Gibson admitted that the switch to a new scheme with different verbiage and an increased attention to detail posed a challenge to him.
“I’m not going to speak for everybody. For me, it took some time,” he said. “I know I struggled in OTAs.”
With the third week of training camp coming to a close, however, and the preseason opener against his former team on the horizon, Gibson feels he is on the right track. Wednesday was proof of that: he caught four passes in team drills.
While all of them came via backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs, the 27-year-old still projects to play a crucial role in what is shaping up to be a three-player rotation at running back.
“I’m getting there now,” he said. “I’m starting to get more confident. There are still a few things here and there — it takes time — but I’m getting there. And once you get it, everything else is smooth.”
