McDaniels: Past familiarity should help make Brian Hoyer's reacclimation easier

FOXBOROUGH — Wearing No. 2 — the first player for the Patriots to wear those digits since Doug Flutie in 2005 — backup quarterback Brian Hoyer took the field with his new teammates Wednesday afternoon on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium.

Tom Brady’s backup, who returned to the team that initially signed him as a rookie out of Michigan State in 2009, faces a challenging learning curve over the next week-plus as he gets up to speed in the New England system during the bye week. However, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said before Wednesday’s workout that Hoyer’s smarts and his time in the system give him a leg up in the process.



“Brian’s a smart guy,” McDanels said of the 32-year-old Hoyer, who was released earlier in the week by the Niners after they acquired Jimmy Garoppolo from New England.

“He’s got, obviously, some years in our system and our terminology, so it will be kind of a cram session here. But I don’t expect that to take forever because Brian’s an intelligent guy that had plenty of exposure to what we do, and I know he’ll work hard. Hopefully we’ll catch him up really quickly.”

McDaniels, an Ohio native, acknowledged a “fondness” for the fellow Ohioan, who completed 63 percent of his passes for 286 yards with one touchdown and one interception in his 13 games with the Patriots from 2009-11.

“He’s a really smart kid,” said McDaniels. “You know, he’s a football kid. He’s all about football and loves the game, cares about playing quarterback the right way. (He’s a) smart guy (who) works hard, good teammate, so there’s a lot to like.”

McDaniels said that when it comes to the offense, things haven’t changed dramatically since Hoyer was released by the summer of 2012.

“I think the foundation of our system is the same. There’s certainly things that have changed since he was here, I’m sure,” he said. “(But) I would say that it’s just like learning a new language. Generally, they’re not going to change the language entirely. You know, you might have to learn a new word here or there or something like that, which I’m sure Brian will be able to do quickly. But, the foundation of our system and what we use and what we’ve done since he left has not really been that different.”