Josh McDaniels Explains Sideline Tirade: Patriots Offense Needed ‘Spark’

Josh McDaniels laid into the New England Patriots’ offense early in Sunday’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, reaming out his unit on the sideline after it managed just two first downs and zero points in the first quarter.

Speaking on a conference call Tuesday morning, McDaniels explained the rationale behind his tirade.

“That’s my responsibility, our overall performance,” the Patriots offensive coordinator said. “I feel like that’s what my job is, and I didn’t do a good enough job, obviously, on Sunday. We didn’t score enough points, didn’t produce enough first downs, didn’t control the game at all, and we weren’t playing as well as any of us would like at that point in the day.

“I think part of coaching is understanding there’s times where you do things quietly and maybe pull somebody to the side, and there’s other times where you just want to try to create a spark or what have you and just refocus on the things that are really important. And that’s really all I was doing.

“But I don’t do that a lot. I don’t want to do that a lot, and our guys are great about making sure that nobody needs to do that a lot. It’s just a one-time situation, I think, that you want to try to refocus on the things that are important and try to see if we can go out there and play a little better.”

The Patriots, who went on to lose 31-20, trailed 14-0 at the time of McDaniels’ blowup. Quarterback Tom Brady also could be seen screaming at teammates during the break between the first and second quarters.

New England scored just three points in the first half before finally showing signs of offensive life late in the third quarter.

Running back James White, whose 3-yard carry on third-and-5 closed out the opening frame, shared McDaniels’ frustration.

“We just need to be better,” White said Monday on WEEI’s “Dale & Keefe.” “That’s pretty much all it was. That’s not the New England offense that we’re typical of playing. Kind of hurting ourselves, shooting ourselves in the foot. It was more of us than them. You can’t play that way against a good defense because they’ll capitalize on your mistakes.”