Patriots Coaches Admit Losing Matthew Judon ‘Absolutely Stinks’
'He's one of our best players -- one of the best players in the league'
FOXBORO, Mass. — Shortly after the Patriots lost Matthew Judon to a serious biceps injury that required surgery to repair, teammate Deatrich Wise said losing Judon was “devastating” for their defense.
Two New England coaches were similarly forthright Tuesday when asked about the huge challenge of replacing the team’s best all-around player.
“You can’t replace somebody like that,” linebackers coach and defensive play-caller Steve Belichick said. “We had the exact same conversation about Devin (McCourty) all offseason where, ‘What are you guys going to do? Are you going to play with 10 people?’
“The answer is no. Somebody’s got to play out there. You can’t replace a player like that. He’s one of our best players — one of the best players in the league. So, it sucks, but it’s part of football. You’ve just got to move on and roll with the punches.”
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Jerod Mayo, who shares de facto defensive coordinator duties with Belichick, said the Patriots will have trouble replicating Judon’s energy, not to mention his premier pass-rushing skills.
“First and foremost I’ll say, without Judon out there, he kind of reminds me of myself as a player,” said Mayo, a Pro Bowl linebacker during his playing days. “When guys are kind of down, you try to pick them up, and when guys are up, you just try to remain neutral and bring them back to reality. So, it absolutely stinks not having him on the field, but he’ll be around the team.”
The Patriots clearly missed Judon in Sunday’s 34-0 loss to the New Orleans Saints. They pressured quarterback Derek Carr just eight times in their first game without their defensive MVP, per Pro Football Focus, tied for their third-lowest single-game mark since Judon arrived in 2021.
The only time since the start of last season that New England registered fewer QB pressures was in Week 2 against Miami when Tua Tagovailoa peppered the Patriots with quick passes and had a time-to-throw average of 1.98 seconds.
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Second-round rookie Keion White, whom Mayo said would need to play more and play well in Judon’s absence, struggled against the Saints. White failed to record a pressure in 24 pass-rush snaps, missed two tackles and had multiple negative plays as a run defender. He also admitted it’s not in his DNA to bring Judon levels of juice to the field or locker room, saying he’s “not a big energy guy.”
Judon reportedly hasn’t ruled out a possible late-season return, but he’s unlikely to be back until December at the earliest. It’ll be on players like White, Anfernee Jennings, Josh Uche and Jahlani Tavai to pick up the slack until then.
And if the 1-4 Patriots continue their slide toward the bottom of the NFL standings, there might not be any motivation for Judon to come back until 2024.
