NFL Rumors: Giants Request To Interview Patriots Assistant Joe Judge

Josh McDaniels isn’t the only New England Patriots assistant drawing head-coaching interest.

The New York Giants on Tuesday requested to interview Patriots wide receivers coach/special teams coordinator Joe Judge, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The Giants launched a coaching search earlier this week after officially firing Pat Shurmur on Monday.

Judge joined Bill Belichick’s coaching staff in 2012 after spending three seasons as a special teams assistant at Alabama under Nick Saban. The 37-year-old exclusively worked with the kicking game for seven seasons before adding receivers to his plate last spring.

“Joe’s done a great job,” Belichick said Tuesday. “He’s done a great job with the kicking game, and he’s expanded the role a little bit. That’s kind of had a little bit of a ripple effect in the way we’ve organized the kicking game, but that’s all worked out pretty efficiently. Joe’s done a good job of organizing that as well as taking on some other things with the offense, in particular receivers. He’s done a good job. He’s an excellent coach.”

McDaniels, New England’s longtime offensive coordinator, reportedly has received interview requests from the Giants, Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers. NFL rules prohibit either coach from meeting with other teams until after Saturday’s wild-card round matchup with the Tennessee Titans.