What to make of Matthew Judon’s return to Patriots practice

What to make of Matthew Judon’s return to Patriots practice originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Thursday appeared to mark a positive development in Matthew Judon’s ongoing contract dispute with the New England Patriots.

The star outside linebacker returned to the practice field after his absence on Wednesday, which was preceded by his animated exchange with Patriots brass on Tuesday. Could his participation in practice indicate the two sides are nearing an agreement?

Our Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry were at Gillette Stadium for Thursday’s session and shared their reactions to Judon’s return.

“It’s palpable that something happened,” Curran said on Thursday’s Early Edition. “Either Jerod Mayo said the right things to get him to move off his spot where he felt disrespected, or the Patriots feel as if something’s imminent and were able to convince Matthew Judon. I just think that he’s a fairly prideful guy, has an ego, spoke transparently about that, felt as if he had been done wrong. So in order to get him back on the field, I think the Patriots needed to have some kind of reaching across the aisle.

“It is worth noting as well that they didn’t have pads on today. If this was a contact practice would he have been out there? And what disposition would he have had?”

While it was encouraging to see Judon back in the mix, Perry notes that the four-time Pro Bowler wasn’t on the field often during 11-on-11 drills. Like Curran, he wonders whether Judon will sit out again on Friday if the pads are back on.

“Even though he was a participant in all practice periods today, I hesitate to call him a full participant in practice,” Perry said. “When it came time for the team drills … Matthew Judon was out there for the very first snap for the first-team offense and that was it, and he came off. He didn’t take any reps further against Jacoby Brissett, didn’t take any more against Drake Maye.

“Then when Jacoby Brissett got back on the field a few minutes later, he was back out there…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/matthew-judons-return-patriots-practice-010217032.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-08-02 02:16:29

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.