Patriots Perspective: Matthew Judon's Excellent Evolution

Matthew Judon learned through the easy route that "The Patriot Way" isn't as hard-nosed and stuffy as opponents contended.

Throughout their new-century dominance, the New England Patriots have gained a reputation as a no-nonsense franchise, a perception hardly challenged by the eternally stoic head coach Bill Belichick. Judon expected to run into that trend when he signed with the team from Baltimore in 2021 but it was quickly bucked upon meeting his new companions.

“Outside looking in, you see just a whole bunch of stuck-up guys,” Judon told former teammate Devin McCourty, interviewing him for NBC's coverage of Sunday's New England tilt against the Miami Dolphins (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC). "But when you get in the building, you all joke, have fun, do things differently than a lot of other teams around the league, or from where I was from."

"That’s what I was thinking. I ain’t really never met you all at any other social event or nothing. I ain’t never seen like a Patriots player out. So, I was like, ‘Man, these dudes are weirdos.’ I ain’t never met none of you all in the offseason. I come from Granite Valley so I don’t really know ya’ll like that or have connections like that.”

Judon was particularly praising of fellow defender Deatrich Wise Jr., whom he described as "quirky." Coming over from one of the few AFC team that managed to at least keep pace with New England's greatness, Judon nonetheless acclimated to his new Foxborough dwelling fairly quickly, as his newfound gang of "weirdos" proved equally inspiring as they were goofy.

"Ya’ll (were) like, ‘Judon, go out there and be you. We know you might not know some of these plays. You might mess up a little bit, but we’re going to get you right," Judon recalled to McCourty. "Ya’ll just allowed me to play football and when I can play football, I can be myself.”

Judon also endeared himself to his new teammates by elevating his brand of physicality and pass rushing that were on display in Charm City: he earned a career-best 12.5 sacks in his debut season en route to guiding the Patriots to the AFC Wild Card round and pumped that number up to 15.5 in 2022. He adopted his own brand of eccentrics with a "mouth-wiping" celebration that grew in the New England area with each passing sack.

The 31-year-old defender had one takedown of Jalen Hurts in last Sunday's season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

A prime opportunity or an early hole awaits Judon and the Patriots on Sunday: with McCourty and the rest of his Peacock pals watching, New England (0-1) can keep pace in AFC East that just became much tighter with the long-term injury of New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers or fall behind the