FOXBORO, Mass. — It’s not hard to find Matthew Judon when he’s on the field for the New England Patriots.
Whether that’s because you can easily spot him in his red sleeves or because he’s making a game-altering play, Judon serves as a very important player to the Patriots.
Judon was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in New England’s Week 5 shutout win over the Detroit Lions in which he amassed two sacks (to bring his season total to six) and became the first Patriots player to record a sack through each of their first five games.
But it’s more than just his on-field performance that makes Judon important to the Patriots — it’s the way he prepares and his work ethic that makes him an admirable teammate.
“We gotta talk about him again?” Devin McCourty said Wednesday while laughing. “I’ll talk about good old Matthew.
“I think the best thing that he’s brought to this team is when he got here last year, he showed that he wanted to work just as hard as anybody out there. I think you guys wrote about it when he was running hills with the skill guys, and you can tell that wasn’t just something because he continued to do that all throughout the season … So I just think his want to — whether it’s Mondays, and we’re all here on the bike, running and doing two minutes on and he’s leading that group.
“So I think his work ethic, obviously, it shows in production and his play, which has been tremendous for us. But I think his leadership and showing his leadership by trying to outwork everybody next to him, I think it has been great for Anfernee (Jennings), for (Josh) Uche, for (Deatrich) Wise. Just to see that, I think now Wise has turned into that same kind of player, a leader, a captain, one that guys can not only go to and talk to but guys can say, ‘Alright, I can just watch this guy, and I’ll become a better player.’
“So (Judon) has been great for us and his ability to come out and really make his presence known. And again, especially the way he did Sunday.”
Judon’s work ethic clearly is contagious, and he’ll try to replicate his Week 5 performance when the Patriots travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns on Sunday. Kick off from FirstEnergy Stadium is set for 1 p.m. ET.
