Joe Judge Reportedly Returning To Patriots In New Role For 2022

Joe Judge reportedly is rejoining the New England Patriots’ coaching staff.

The former New York Giants head coach is “working on a deal” to return to the Patriots as an offensive assistant, according to a report Tuesday from The MMQB’s Albert Breer.

That deal is “expected to get done in the coming days,” per Breer’s report.

This will be a new role for the 40-year-old Judge, who was New England’s special teams coordinator from 2015 to 2019 after serving as a special teams assistant from 2012 to 2014. He does have experience on the offensive side, however, as Bill Belichick also had him coach New England’s receivers in 2019.

“Joe’s a good football coach. Period,” Belichick said last summer. “All the things that a good coach needs to do, Joe does. And he did a great job here for me in a number of different capacities. Most importantly, special teams, but he had a lot of other responsibilities, as well. When I gave him something to do, he did a good job of it, and so that led to other things. I know he’s a very accomplished football coach. He has a good understanding of the game and how to coach it.”

The Giants fired Judge last month after he posted a 10-23 record over two seasons as head coach.

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It’s unclear which position(s) Judge, a former college quarterback at Mississippi State, will focus on in his return to Foxboro. The Patriots are undergoing significant turnover on their offensive staff with coordinator Josh McDaniels and assistant quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree both leaving for the Las Vegas Raiders and longtime running backs coach Ivan Fears reportedly expected to retire.

We’ll see if Judge also lends a hand on special teams. The Patriots were uncharacteristically sloppy in that area this season, allowing three blocked punts and committing numerous costly penalties.

McDaniels reportedly showed interest in making Judge his special teams coordinator in Las Vegas before hiring Tom McMahon for that position.

UPDATE (11:55 a.m.): The Patriots might not hire an official offensive coordinator following McDaniels’ departure, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday.