Trick plays have become a major part of the Patriots offense in recent years, including last Sunday against the Jets when even winning by so much, the team still continued to use them.
Speaking via video conference Tuesday, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was asked about them and he said he doesn't really consider them "trick" plays because of the process that goes into using them.
“I usually tell the guys that we’re going to rep them in practice enough and rep them long enough, sometimes for weeks, to the point where none of us feel like it’s a trick," he said. "I think that’s the biggest thing for me is if I don’t feel confident in the scheme or the execution of the scheme in practice, if the players don’t feel confident in what they’re being asked to do, then I don’t really think it’s a safe thing to use. I think once we’ve practiced it enough and a lot of times for me, we have to see a bad look and then make a good decision in practice and not turn the play into a turnover or something like that, and see the reaction from players when those things happen. Once we cross over that line and feel comfortable with the decision-making based on who is going to be touching the ball and what have you, then I don’t really feel like it is a huge risk, myself.”
Ultimately, McDaniels wants the players to feel the same way.
“I always tell them if your heart beat starts going up when we call this, we probably haven’t repped it enough in practice," he said. "When we call it in a game, if we don’t miss a beat, we don’t get wide-eyed in the huddle because we know we feel good about our execution and our ability to run it right, then go ahead and let it rip. Whether it’s one, two or three [plays], I don’t really consider them tricks as long as we’ve practiced them enough. However many we call or don’t call I think it’s really more based on the game or situation.”
We'll see what the Patriots have up their sleeves this week in Los Angeles against the Chargers.