Patriots' outside linebacker Matthew Judon stretched his Pro Bowl streak to three seasons last year in a dynamic first year in Foxboro, registering double-digit sacks for the first time in his career. Now, he's trying to take things up a notch once more.
That means making sure he's as good as he was at the start of the 2021 season all the way through the end, which unfortunately wasn't the case down the stretch.
You don't have to tell Judon, apparently, who told WEEI's "Gresh and Keefe" show that improving his conditioning was a top priority this offseason.
"It's a long season. I got to be fresh," Judon said when asked about improvements he was looking to make this season. "I've been asking some older veterans about how they did it, how they made it through year upon year of being great throughout the whole season. My conditioning level, that's a big thing I'm working on."
After playing 13 Pro Bowl-caliber weeks of football, posting 59 pressures and 12.5 sacks through the Patriots' Week 13 win over Buffalo, Judon had just three total pressures in his final four games (including the playoff loss to the Bills) and failed to register a sack. He also landed on the COVID/Reserve list late the season, though he returned for New England's final two games.
It likely wasn't a coincidence that the Patriots struggled defensively against the Bills (twice) and Dolphins down the stretch as Judon faltered for unknown reasons.
The man who landed at No. 52 on the NFL's player-chosen top 100 list knows he has to be better if the team is going to build on what it did last season, and his training camp performance has backed up his words.
"There's only going to be one team that's truly happy at the end of the year, and that's what I want to be. That's what everything I do is for. I'm trying to work toward that awesome end goal of a championship. That's what I want."
