As his Arizona Cardinals teammates exited the field following Monday night’s loss to the New England Patriots, J.J. Watt lingered.
The former NFL Defensive Player of the Year didn’t want to leave without paying respect to his Patriots counterpart, Matthew Judon.
“Guy played his balls off,” Watt told a Cardinals assistant, as seen on the latest episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks In-Season.” “I want to tell him.”
Moments later, he found Judon to deliver that message.
“Hey, you played your balls off, brother,” Watt told New England’s star edge rusher. “I appreciate you.”
Judon reciprocated that praise.
“So much respect, man,” he told Watt. “You’ve been doing this for a long time, and we’re all watching, man. We’re all following you, man.”
“I appreciate you,” Watt replied. “Keep it up, huh? Have fun out there.”
Judon recorded 1 1/2 sacks in New England’s 27-13 victory at State Farm Stadium, upping his season total to 14 1/2 and tying him with San Francisco 49ers star Nick Bosa for the NFL lead. Judon also is tied for second in the league in quarterback hits with 26, trailing only Bosa.
The Patriots racked up a total of six sacks against Cardinals backup QB Colt McCoy, including three by breakout star Josh Uche. That performance earned Uche, who has 10 sacks in his last six games after recording just four over his first 26 career contests, AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
New England will be eyeing a similarly disruptive effort when they visit Derek Carr and the Las Vegas Raiders this Sunday.
