Joe Judge, on the first day of August, said good morning, answered questions for about 10 minutes, walked out from behind the microphone and said, “Thanks guys, appreciate yas.’’ That sort of media session was a daily occurrence for Judge the past two years with the Giants, but is a rarity for Judge nowadays in his new role with the Patriots.
The Giants and Patriots open up their preseason schedules Thursday night at Gillette Stadium, and wouldn’t you know it, Judge will be on the premises. He was fired by the Giants two years into his five-year contract, a premature exit after he was hired as head coach in January 2020 as a no-nonsense 38-year-old who wowed everyone in his introductory press conference, bringing to mind a Bill Parcells vibe.
Judge went 6-10 in 2020 and the arrow was pointing up for him, but his career trajectory took a dive in 2021, when the Giants went 4-13, losing their final six games in desultory fashion after quarterback Daniel Jones went out with a neck issue. Co-owner John Mara said he believed there was a good head coach inside Judge, but felt the need to clean house and allow the new general manager — it turned out to be Joe Schoen — to have a major say in who he wanted as the new head coach.
Judge came to the Giants after eight years in New England, spent mostly as the Patriots’ special teams coordinator. He is back with Bill Belichick and the Patriots in the role of offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach. That means he will be directing Mac Jones, but you can be sure seeing the Giants will bring back plenty of thoughts and memories.
“As a coach, a teacher or anybody in a position like that, you’ve got to always be learning, otherwise you’re just wasting time,’’ Judge said last week. “While I’ve learned something from every experience I’ve had, the important thing is where I’m at right now and what I do with any game knowledge that I apply going forward. My focus is 100 percent on 2022 and the Patriots and our players right now.’’
The Giants have undergone a makeover, but only so much of an upheaval can be achieved in one year. There are six players slated to start on offense this season and nine on defense who are holdovers from Judge’s time with the Giants.
“We’ve talked now and then,’’ inside linebacker Blake Martinez said. “He was always a great person to me and a great coach. I’ve always respected him. It’s one of those things where it’s a business and you’ve got to keep performing, just like I need to or I’m going to be gone. I’ll definitely go say, ‘What’s up?’ to him.’’
Left tackle Andrew Thomas was the first Giants draft pick under Judge, selected No. 4 overall in the 2020 draft. He played his first two seasons for Judge and, just like that, is on the next coaching regime, led by Brian Daboll.
“I’ve noticed it changes all the time, you’ve got to be prepared,’’ Thomas said, “regardless of who’s out there coaching.’’
In his new role, Judge is in a high-profile spot. He has gone from one Jones (Daniel) to another (Mac), and the very early returns from Foxborough indicate the Patriots’ offense has not come quickly out of the chute. Judge, as the Giants’ head coach, had a quarterbacks coach and an offensive coordinator working with Daniel Jones. With the Patriots, Judge is 24/7 with Mac Jones.
“The buy-in has to be the buy-in,’’ Mac Jones said. “You have to trust it. But at the end of the day, we’re going to figure it out and make this thing work. We have good coaches that are laying the path for us, and we just have to see it how they see it, and come together and dominate together.’’
Credit: Source link
