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It didn’t show against the Eagles, but Patriots will miss Matthew Judon, and other final thoughts
"It’s hard to sit here and say one person can replace Matthew Judon, both on the field and off the field."
The Patriots generated five sacks in their first game after trading four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Matthew Judon.
Judon, who specializes in getting after quarterbacks, posted 32 sacks in 38 games during his three-year stint with the Patriots.
However, a biceps injury limited him to just four games last year and the Patriots opted to trade the 32-year-old edge rusher instead of reworking his contract which had one year left at a team-friendly rate.
Judon had been unhappy with his contract and New England was unwilling to budge. Now, Judon gets a fresh start elsewhere and the Patriots get a top-100 pick as they continue their rebuild.
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“You guys know how I feel about Judon, and obviously he’s moving on,” Jerod Mayo said. “I felt like it’s a win-win for both parties, and I wish him nothing but the best. I always tell the guys these are long-term relationships, and nothing has changed.”
The Patriots’ pass rush swarmed Philadelphia quarterback Kenny Pickett in the first half. Deatrich Wise, Keion White, and Josh Uche provided consistent pressure off the edges and each recorded a sack.
“We’ve gone years without having a premier rusher,” Mayo said. “Chandler Jones, the Judons of the world, but we were able to manufacture pass rush through our stunts and games and our game-planning.”
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“Look, it’s not going to be one person,” Mayo added. “It’s hard to sit here and say one person can replace Matthew Judon, both on the field and off the field. But I think we have a good group ready to go and step into those shoes.”
Here’s a closer look at some of the guys attempting to fill Judon’s shoes, along with a few other final thoughts from Patriots-Eagles.
Next man up
The Patriots’ got an extended look at life without Judon last year, when a biceps injury ended his season after four games last season.
They finished seventh in the league in yards per game, largely thanks to their ability to stuff the run.
When Judon went down last year, Anfernee Jennings picked up the bulk of the starts in his place. Jennings recorded a career-high 66 tackles last season, but only has three career sacks.
Joshua Uche, who recorded 11.5 sacks playing opposite Judon in 2022, has shown potential as a speed rusher off the edge. His production took a dip in 2023, but he seems poised for a bigger role this year.
“Like I said, the next man up mentality,” Uche said. “Whatever the coach is asking me to do. I’m always going to try to do the best I can to help the team win. I’ve got to ramp it up. I’ve got to up my game and do everything I can to help the team win.”
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Uche and Jennings, at 6-foot-1, 240-pounds and 6-foot-2, 255-pounds respectively, are around the same size. The Patriots will rely on Keion White (6-foot-5, 285 pounds) to replace some of the power that the 6-foot-3, 270-pound Judon brought off the edge.
“Just go out there and do my best,” White said. “So hopefully from what I put on the tape today, you’ll see that I tried to be as disruptive as possible and just keep doing that and building upon that.”
Beyond just his production, Judon mentored younger pass-rushers and made an impact that will be hard to replace.
“Judon definitely left his mark in this building,” Wise said. “He did a fantastic job of educating a lot of guys on how he saw the game. He took a lot of guys under his wing. You saw the improvement of the defensive line and the pass rush the last four years he was here. He brought a high level of education and preparation to the game, and that’s one thing we’re definitely going to miss.”
First extended look was a success for Drake Maye
Drake Maye strolled into the end zone on a 4-yard option keeper for his first NFL touchdown.
Maye fared well during his first extended action, going 6-for-11 for 47 yards. He played just one series in the preseason opener.
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Fellow quarterback Jacoby Brissett had a piece of advice for Maye after the score against the Eagles.
“I told him to keep the ball, he’s so giddy that he forgot to keep the ball, it’s his first one,” Brissett said. “It was good, a good drive ended up with him having the ball in his hand.”
“It’s a good sign, we’re all excited for him, it’s his first one, sure it won’t be his last,” Brissett added. “Just got to work on his celebration, I guess, but eight years ago I didn’t have a good celebration, I gave the ball to Bill [Belichick] so he did better than I did I guess.”
Joe Milton might want to work on sliding
Mayo said he had a chat with Joe Milton after he tried to run over an Eagles defender. Milton lunged shoulder first into the player at the end of a scramble.
“There are grown men on the other side as well,” Mayo reminded the rookie quarterback.
When asked about it, Milton jokingly asked if the question was about him taking a big hit or landing a big hit. He said veteran players have told him he needs to slide if he wants to last long in the league.
“You know the crash, I feel like it’s [just] a part of football,” Milton said. “I had one thing in my head that was made up when I was running the ball, and just made it happen. But something that I learned tonight from last week is you’ve just got to keep going no matter what.”
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“I feel like that was something that our head coach at Tennessee, Coach [Josh] Heupel, taught us something well. Just flush the last play, move on to the next play. You never know what’s going to happen. One play could be bad and the next play could be a touchdown. So, just learn how to move on from it.”
Javon Baker showed flashes, but has a few things to iron out
Maye almost connected with Javon Baker on a deep post that would have been the highlight of the game if Baker was able to haul it in.
Maye put the ball right where it needed to be, but it slipped between Baker’s hands as he dove for it.
Baker had a step on his defender, gave plenty of effort on the play, and popped up after he landed upset with himself at the mistake. He needs to make those kinds of catches.
Baker has shown that he can separate from defenders and make the occasional highlight reel catch. Sometimes he loses track of whether or not he’s out of bounds. There was a play where Maye tried to feed him down the sideline but Baker was already over the line as he threw it.
Overall, Baker recorded one catch for 12 yards on four targets, but he wasn’t far away from making that stat line look much better.
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