FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Josh McDaniels spent two seasons working with the New England defense so he knew what he was up against when he became the Patriots quarterbacks coach in 2004.

Now, as head coach of the Broncos, he should have a good idea of what he’ll face when Denver hosts Tom Brady and the Patriots on Sunday.

McDaniels spent the last three seasons as the Patriots offensive coordinator. But for Brady, knowing what to expect doesn’t always lead to success.

“They may have information, we have information,” he said Wednesday. “When you’re out there, what you see is what you see, and that’s what you’ve got to react to no matter what they say in the meeting before the game.”

The Patriots (3-1) could line up Sunday in a formation they used last year to run a certain play. But they could flip that around and run a different play out of it.

“Yeah, but then Josh goes, ‘OK, they’re going to flip it,’ because they know that we’re going to know,” Brady said. “That’s what offensive football is all about. You don’t want to have all of these huge tendencies as an offense, where on first down we throw it 100 percent of the time. Part of it is those tendencies. You have to change those tendencies.”

While the Patriots’ defensive players have changed dramatically this year, almost all the offensive starters are the ones who started under McDaniels.

Brady hasn’t been nearly as dominant as he was in 2007 when he threw an NFL-record 50 touchdown passes for an offense, masterminded by McDaniels, that set another league record with 589 points. So far, the 2007 NFL MVP has thrown four touchdown passes and is just 17th in quarterback rating.

The Patriots don’t have an offensive coordinator, so coach Bill Belichick has a large role in running the offense. Bill O’Brien moved up to quarterbacks coach this year from wide receivers coach, and Brady said there’s a period of adjustment.

“That’s a process,” he said. “It’s learning a different personality and a person who coaches a different way, who’s their own person. They’re not Josh, they’re not coach Belichick. Billy is really his own man and he’s done a great job.”

O’Brien joined the Patriots in 2007 as an assistant after 14 years as a college coach. McDaniels’ first season was 2001 when he was a personnel assistant. He spent the next two years working with the defensive backs.

Brady realized in 2004, McDaniels’ first year as quarterbacks coach, that he had a solid grasp of the offense.

“He had studied under the defense for a while, and I think he really brought that over to the offense,” Brady said. “He said, ‘All right guys, well, this is how they’re trying to stop us, so here’s how we’re going to beat it.'”

Now McDaniels is on the other side. He knows what the Patriots offense does and it’s up to him to stop it.

The Broncos (4-0) defense has stopped everyone this season, allowing a total of 26 points.

“I was very impressed with the time I spent with Josh here,” Belichick said. “He’s a smart guy, knows football, understands, I think, all the elements of the game – personnel, strategy, offense, defense, motivation, all the different elements of it, and he’s got a lot of poise.

“He’s cool under pressure and he did a great job for us here. And it doesn’t surprise me that he’s doing well out there.”

Other former Patriots assistants didn’t fare so well when they first became head coaches – defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel ultimately was fired by the Cleveland Browns, as was Eric Mangini by the New York Jets. Former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis is still the head coach at Notre Dame, though his teams have struggled early in his tenure.

But McDaniels has succeeded so far. Brady expected that from the assistant he first worked with in 2004.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all. From being around him for as long as I had, and being in as many meetings, I know he’s always so well-prepared and so diligent,” Brady said. “It’ll be a little strange seeing him on the other sideline, but I guess we’re kind of used to that around here.”