FOXBOROUGH, Mass. —

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said his team will have to bring their A-game in order to win the AFC Championship next Sunday.

“We’ll do what we’ve always done. We’ll travel, and we’ll be in condition and be ready to play. That’s kind of about what it is,” Vrabel said Monday morning.

Vrabel’s Patriots played the first two games of the playoffs at home, but they will be on the road Sunday. They went 8-0 on the road during the regular season.

“They will be the best defense we’ve played to date because it’s the next one. That’s just how this goes,” Vrabel said. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence. They’re good on the perimeter, really good up front. They have athleticism. They have size. They put a lot of pressure on you.”

This will be the third time the Broncos have played the Patriots in the AFC Championship game. New England has lost both of the previous matchups.

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With Broncos quarterback Bo Nix out for the season, former Patriots quarterback Jarrett Stidham is slated to take his place this weekend, and with the change, the Patriots are now the favorites to win, despite being on the road. DraftKings has the team as five-point favorites.

Stidham was drafted by the Patriots in 2019. He was Tom Brady’s last every backup in New England.

Stidham hasn’t thrown a pass in a game in two years and no one seems to know much about him except Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who brought Stidham in when he was head coach in Las Vegas.

This past off-season, the Patriots discussed signing Stidham as a backup to Drake Maye when McDaniels returned to New England.

“Well I guess it was kinda ironic, you know, just speaking with his agent. They’re like ‘Well if you don’t want your starter to get hurt hire, sign Jared’ because that was before two days ago,” Vrabel said. “Just going back to when Josh had him and playing against him, I just think he sees things really well. I think he’s athletic enough to extend like we talk about alot of quarterbacks. He’s really decisive in the games that we went back and watched.”

Instead, the Patriots brought in Josh Dobbs and Tommy Devito to back up Maye.