FOXBORO – Josh McDaniels could have gone to work Monday morning and been staring across a table at his new franchise quarterback, Jacoby Brissett.
And no matter how many times the Colts set off the propaganda cannon describing Brissett as rare, gifted and bound for greatness, he is none of those.
So McDaniels, who got to the altar with the Colts in February 2018 before the Patriots spoke up with a reason those two should not be joined, should probably consider himself lucky this week. The stunning retirement of Andrew Luck is a poop sandwich with no bread and there’s no way to sugarcoat it.
We were granted access to the Patriots assistant coaches on Monday and had a chance to ask McDaniels about Luck’s retirement.
“He’s a great player and I think everybody’s free to make their own choices about what’s best for them and their family and their future,” said McDaniels. “I think the league will miss him. He’s a really talented player, he’s one of the toughest guys at that position in the league. I’m a football fan and I grew up the son of a football coach so anybody that feels like they have to do that, it kinds of breaks my heart because you’d love to see these guys play as long as they can.”
Luck’s decision to retire came from the top rope. Former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski built to his throughout 2017 and 2018 so that it wasn’t quite the stunner Luck’s was.
New England Patriots
But the similarities are unmistakable.
"Certainly, we went through it with Rob a little bit,” said McDaniels. “I don’t know if the circumstances are the same but any great player, you got to give them credit for making the choices that are best for them. At the same time I think football in general misses those guys when they’re gone.”
I asked McDaniels if he felt like he’d dodged a bullet in not taking the Colts job.
“I don’t think it had anything to do with that,” he said, referring to Luck. “I think once we made the decision to stay, I think that it was right for me. And it wouldn’t have mattered - none of this would have mattered. I’d say that regardless of what happened. ”
An avalanche of criticism landed on McDaniels after he rebuffed the Colts. It’s a decision he will have to explain in every future interview.
But Luck’s plight is another reason for McDaniels to look back and believe he made the right call in staying in New England.
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