Josh Uche’s ‘mean streak’ fueling stellar Patriots camp performance
Uche's dominant performance against the Giants in joint practices Thursday provided a glimpse at what could be a breakout season with the Patriots.
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Josh Uche doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with being a nice guy. By all accounts, he seems to be one himself.
For example, he’s the type of person who, during his own press availability, will take a moment to ask a reporter a question about themselves (as he did Friday) just to keep things light and fun.
As veteran linebacker Dont’a Hightower says, there’s “never a dull moment” with the second-year pass-rusher around.
“Whenever you have guys like that to brighten up the mood, brighten up the locker room, the meetings, whatever it is, you need that around here. I appreciate him for that,” said Hightower of his young teammate.
But when you’re standing across the line of scrimmage from the New England Patriots defense, you’re not dealing with that version of Josh Uche anymore.
No. 55 for the Patriots is not here to be your friend. He’s here to hit your quarterback.
“It just goes back to where I’m from,” Uche said, citing his upbringing in the ultra-competitive Miami football scene. “I just always remember my Pop Warner coach told me, ‘It’s OK to be a nice guy, but when you get on the field, you’ve got to flip a switch.’ You’ve got to become kind of a — for lack of a better word — a mean streak, if you will.”
The Giants found out firsthand what a dialed-in Uche looks like during Thursday’s joint practice.
After overwhelming New York Giants tackle Andrew Thomas for his second “sack” on Daniel Jones — quarterbacks wear red non-contact jerseys in practice, so you can’t really sack them — Uche shouted to nobody in particular, “They can’t hold me!” (The irony is that Thomas actually held Uche on the play but couldn’t stop him from getting to the quarterback.)
On the Giants’ next possession, the young linebacker blunt-forced his way through guard Will Hernandez for another pressure on the Giants’ Jones and yelled “That’s a f****** sack!” as he did it.
Uche’s been making these kinds of plays since OTAs and training camp, speeding around the Patriots’ own offensive tackles as if they were little more than tackling dummies with arms.
He’s proving he can do it against other teams consistently, too, setting up a possible breakout campaign in 2021.
“Really talented. Loves football,” veteran linebacker Kyle Van Noy said of Uche. “Plays with a lot of passion, and as he keeps putting himself further each and every day, the better off he’ll be.”
On top of that, Hightower says the sophomore edge rusher reminds him strongly of another Patriots linebacker who’s been dominating opponents this preseason.
“He’s like a little [Matthew] Judon,” Hightower explained. “Honestly, that’s ‘big brother, little brother.’”
For his part, Uche loves that comparison.
“Judon is probably one of the best pass-rushers I’ve ever been around,” he explained. “But I just work every day to emulate, to do some of the things he does and try to get to his level, his status. So it’s great to have someone to aspire to be like on your team and in your room. That way, you have someone that lays out the roadmap in how to go about professionalism.”
At times, Uche’s even looked like the newly acquired outside linebacker on the field.
During the Patriots’ first preseason game against Washington, Judon sowed chaos as a pass-rusher, run-stopper and a pass-defender, dropping into coverage to break up a short throw to running back Antonio Gibson.
Later in the game, Uche had his own solid coverage rep, breaking off a rush and tracking down a running back in the flat for a short gain. On Thursday, he even ran stride for stride with Giants running back Saquon Barkley — he of the 4.41 40-yard dash — during the sideline in coverage.
His ability to produce at a variety of different positions (and different roles) should give him even more opportunities to show off his lethal pass-rushing abilities.
And if the 2020 second-round pick turns that “mean streak” into quarterback pressures consistently in a reserve role, he could help make the Patriots’ defense as dangerous as it was two seasons ago.
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