Joe Judge's tenure as New York Giants head coach ended poorly, and that seemed to carry over in his return to New England.
The Patriots offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach worked with Matt Patricia and Bill Belichick to help guide Mac Jones and company. But the 2022 season was a disaster on that end, and while Patricia received most of the flak, Judge did not land favorable treatment either.
The 41-year-old assistant reportedly was "phased out" during the season, according to Andrew Callahan and Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald. This marked a steep fall in grace as Judge was expected to command a large role on New England's staff, and there was potential before the season for the former Giants head coach to rebound from a 4-13 campaign the season prior.
"Joe Judge, they later suspected, was in a long process of being phased out," the Boston Herald reported. "It was a stark change from training camp when Judge would command meetings and share the play-call sheet in team periods with Patricia and Belichick. Judge also coached across positions in practice, forcing other assistants to occasionally correct his talking points to players during drills."
A source told Guregian and Callahan: "I think there were times the coaches were frustrated, especially the ones who had been on staff in years past and knew what we had done."
Judge reportedly "rubbed people the wrong way" when he would try to exert himself in team meetings, and he also drew the ire of Belichick and Jones, who "didn't like" Judge.
"As Patricia came under outside fire as the face of the offense, Judge drew increasing criticism from within," the Boston Herald reported. "Belichick would blast him in practice, and it wasn’t uncommon for Judge and Jones to trade profanity-laced outbursts. Jones' trust in his position coach was effectively non-existent."
New England will have a new voice on the staff after the Patriots hired Bill O'Brien as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. The futures of Patricia and Judge are unknown, but the team's Shrine Bowl staff does not paint a great picture for the duo's 2023 outlook.
