Belichick: Experience with McDaniels will help Decker

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said on Tuesday that wide receiver Eric Decker's previous experience with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will help him get acclimated to his new team. Decker, who signed with the Patriots last week, was reunited with McDaniels after the latter served as his head coach with the Denver Broncos. The 31-year-old Decker was selected by the Broncos with a third-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. "Yeah, I'm sure it will," Belichick said. "Well, he's a smart guy. I know he has recall from some of the things that we do that Josh did at Denver that are carryover. There's a lot of differences, but there's certainly a lot of carryover." Decker agreed with that assessment when he met with reporters on Tuesday. "There is (carryover). You know, there's obviously things that change over time but there's some carryover that I was able to take and quickly learn," Decker said. "And then there's a lot of new stuff too that, you know, I got to kind of catch up on and get ready to go." Decker said he has a great deal of respect for McDaniels and welcomes the opportunity to play for him again. The pair wasn't together long in the previous stint, as McDaniels was fired 12 games into Decker's rookie season. "Josh drafted me in Denver and gave me an opportunity obviously. I got all the respect for him," Decker said. "Probably the smartest football coach I think I've had in my career, guy knows his X's and O's, good with relationships, good as far as getting things going offensively so it's been fun being back with him." Decker recorded 54 receptions for 563 yards and one touchdown in 16 games last season with the Tennessee Titans. It was his lowest touchdown total since his rookie season in 2010. The 6-foot-3, 214-pound Decker has eclipsed 1,000 yards and scored at least 11 touchdowns three times in his career. He had 80 catches for 1,027 yards and 12 scores in 2015 with the New York Jets. New England's wide receiver contingent has been in flux this offseason, as the team traded Brandin Cooks to the Los Angeles Rams and saw fellow wideout Julian Edelman handed a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy. The Patriots have holdovers Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett and Kenny Britt to go along with offseason acquisition Cordarrelle Patterson as well as Braxton Berrios, who was selected in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. The team also released wideouts Jordan Matthews and Malcolm Mitchell.