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The Joe Judge issue in New England was apparently far worse than anticipated.
Judge — who rejoined Bill Belichick’s staff in February as an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach after getting fired as head coach of the Giants — had a contentious relationship with Belichick and Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, according to a scathing report by the Boston Herald.
“As [Matt] Patricia came under outside fire as the face of the offense, Judge drew increasing criticism from within,” the outlet’s Andrew Callahan wrote, citing “sources inside and around the organization who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from the Patriots.”
“Belichick would blast him in practice, and it wasn’t uncommon for Judge and Jones to trade profanity-laced outbursts. Jones’ trust in his position coach was effectively non-existent,” a source said, adding that Jones didn’t like Judge “at all.”
The report goes on to explain that Judge’s demeanor in meetings wasn’t received well.
“[Judge] would speak extra loudly in meetings, trying to project like he was the guy,” another source said. “And I think that kind of rubbed people the wrong way.”
Patricia just completed his first season as New England’s offensive coordinator — though he is listed as a senior football advisor and offensive line coach, he still called plays.
The Patriots missed the playoffs after a season-ending loss to the Bills earlier this month, which capped off a season of offensive struggles, injury setbacks and a quarterback controversy with Jones and backup Bailey Zappe. They finished 8-9 and third in the AFC East.
The dysfunction within the Patriots was evident at times throughout the season when Jones would be seen yelling F-bombs on the field and expressing frustration as the offense regressed.
The Patriots’ struggles on offense were foreshadowed by the hirings of Judge and Patricia, two former head coaches with little-to-no offensive coaching experience.
On Thursday, the Patriots announced Bill O’Brien as their new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach but gave zero indication about Judge and Patricia’s roles with the team moving forward.
The move came after a separate report by MMQB’s Albert Breer stated that team owner Robert Kraft expressed his unhappiness regarding the offensive staff.
Patriots players were also reportedly unhappy with how Belichick handled his quarterback rotation with Jones and Zappe — specifically in Week 7, when Jones was benched for the rookie in the second quarter of a loss to the Bears. At the time, Jones struggled in his return after missing three games with a severe high-ankle sprain.
The Giants fired Judge last January after two losing seasons in which New York went 10-23. It came a day after general manager Dave Gettleman retired after four seasons.
It’s unclear what Judge’s future looks like with the Patriots, should they decide to keep him on staff after Jones regressed in his second year. Giants quarterback Daniel Jones also took a dip in production under Judge and his staff.
Prior to his return to the Patriots, Judge spent eight years on Belichick’s staff in New England — winning three Super Bowls — before the Giants hired him as their head coach in 2020. He won two national championships on Nick Saban’s Alabama staff before joining the Patriots in 2012 as an assistant special teams coach.
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