The Patriots’ practice on Tuesday apparently featured a curious moment involving offensive assistant Joe Judge.
Judge, who rejoined the Patriots after being fired as the Giants head coach earlier this year, took part in a drill Tuesday with the passing offense that is said to have been “taking more time than usual to get” set up, according to Henry McKenna of Patriots Wire. McKenna, who called attention to New England’s well-oiled machine-like manner, noted the scene was unusual in that regard but added this practice seemed to have a “casual nature” following Memorial Day.
In a separate tweet Tuesday, McKenna shared how Judge, a former special teams maestro, and second-year quarterback Mac Jones “had difficultly getting a drill going at the start of practice.”
Though it’s still very early in the offseason, some members of the Patriots have allegedly expressed concern about what the offensive side of the ball may look like in a post-Josh McDaniels era, as the longtime offensive coordinator departed New England in January to take the Raiders head coaching job. Judge and former Lions coach Matt Patricia, who previously served as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator, are both in the mix to lead the team’s offense.
During a recent appearance on NBC Sports Boston, Greg Bedard, who is the founder of the Boston Sports Journal, expressed the trepidation some apparently have.
“But so far, I have countless people who have either been with the Patriots or are hearing from players on the team – they are alarmed to this point. And they’ve barely done anything so far,” Bedard said. “There is a high level of concern about what is going on with the Patriots.”
Although the Patriots’ opener against the Dolphins is roughly three months away, the question that looms on offense is which of Bill Belichick’s top proteges will be calling the shots come September.