How Patriots LB Matthew Judon is already impressing Belichick

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Mac Jones and Cam Newton garnered most of the attention in the New England Patriots' preseason opener versus the Washington Football Team on Thursday night, but there were several other players of interest on both sides of the ball.

One of them was Matthew Judon, who the Patriots signed in NFL free agency to a four-year, $56 million contract after he spent five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.

Whether it was stuffing the run or excelling in pass coverage, Judon showed off a wide range of skills in his short amount of playing time versus Washington.

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On Friday morning, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick gave his impressions of Judon through a couple weeks of training camp and one preseason game.

"Matthew played a handful snaps (Thursday) night. He's got a pretty good number of reps here in training camp, but I'm glad we have him," Belichick said at a press conference. "He's got a lot of skill in the running game, in the passing game. He's a very instinctive player. He seems to figure things out pretty quickly and has fit in well with the group.

"He has a great work ethic. Shows up to work every day. Competes hard. I think that's a good thing for all of us to build off of and try to emulate the attitude and the toughness and the effort that he comes in with on a consistent basis, whether it be game day like we saw last night, meetings, practices, walkthroughs, whatever it is. He's been a good addition, and glad we have him on the team."

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In addition to his impressive on-field play, Judon has been a resource for the team's younger defensive players.

"I think honestly, he has speed and power. He's someone that's able to run around the edge and someone who can go up and just bull-rush you as well," Patriots defensive end Tashawn Bower said after Thursday's win. 

"And he's been around a little bit, so he has so much knowledge to give and me and a lot of other guys are just under his wing trying to take everything in, learn as much as we can from him. So, he brings a lot to the table."

If the Patriots are going to have a successful 2021 season, the defense probably will be the primary reason for the team's success. This unit has the potential to be one of the league's best (especially if Stephon Gilmore plays), and Judon will be one of its most important players with his excellent all-around skill set. He's going to be on the field in all kinds of situations.

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