Matthew Judon returns to practice after ‘great meeting’ with Jerod Mayo
"I had a great meeting with Judon and we're all moving forward."
Matthew Judon returned to Patriots practice on Thursday.
He had missed the previous two practices while going through a contract dispute with the team.
Judon arrived at practice wearing pads for the first time during this training camp. He came to camp on Monday without pads and left the field after speaking with coach Jerod Mayo. On Tuesday, he was absent altogether.
Mayo told reporters before practice that he had met with Judon and that things went well.
“I had a great meeting with Judon and we’re all moving forward,” Mayo said. “I remember as a player, it’s always a difficult time. It’s always a difficult time when you go through contract negotiations and things like that and in saying that for the rest of the team we’re pushing forward.”
Mayo, a first-year head coach, said he’ll always remember how things went down with Judon on Monday but added that he feels his relationship with Judon is still strong. He said the conversation they had afterwards was a healthy one.
“Each situation is unique to itself,” Mayo said. “We can sit here and say you should do this, you should do that. They’re all different situations. Like I said earlier, I feel good about where we are right now, I feel good about the way the players are operating on the field. I feel good about the way Eliot (Wolf) and his staff are going about this stuff because he’s obvously very heavily involved. We’re in a good place”
Mayo declined to comment whether Judon’s Tuesday absence was a team-driven decision.
No new deal for Judon has been announced yet. The Patriots practiced in shirts and shells on Thursday, not full pads.
The Patriots reached a new deal with Davon Godchaux, who along with Judon had expressed displeasure with his contract.
Mayo said the way Godchaux handled things during training camp factored into the decision to get his deal done. Mayo said Godchaux handled things like a professional and that it was part of the Patriots’ philosophy to factor that kind of behavior in.
The Patriots also took a significant hit on the defensive line with Christian Barmore being out indefinitely after being diagnosed with blood clots.
Mayo said Judon will be available to speak with the media at a later date. Judon, who missed 13 games last season with a biceps injury, is entering the final year of a four-year, $56 million deal.
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