Is Bill Belichick sure that sticking Joe Judge on offense is a good idea?
NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran revealed on Boston Herald reporter Andrew Callahan’s Patriots podcast that Judge clashed with Patriots receivers when he coached them in 2019.
“During that season I was told that there were wide receivers who were unhappy with the coaching they were getting, to the point where they felt as if Joe Judge didn’t know more than them, and there were blowups at practice, or at least one that I know of in which a receiver said, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about,’” Curran said.
That was Judge’s only season going offense in New England, or anywhere, for that matter. He was solely on special teams from 2012-18 before adding receivers to his portfolio in 2019. The Giants hired him as their head coach the following season.
Newly signed free agent safety Jabrill Peppers told reporters Judge was involved with the Giants’ offense, which isn’t good news, either. The Giants’ offense ranked second-to-last in the NFL in points and yards gained in each of his two seasons. (Peppers also said he was a "little" surprised Judge, whom he says he loves, would be coaching offense full-time.)
Judge’s most memorable play call was going with a QB sneak on 3rd-and-9 from inside their own 5-yard line — in a completely meaningless game.
Curran says his sources tell him that Judge presents better than he coaches.
“I was told by folks within the organization who said Joe does a great job of presenting himself confidently, and then he gets into something and you don’t always have the same confidence — you start to realize that guys aren’t being prepared in the way that you expected,” Curran added.
For what it’s worth, Belichick disagrees with that assessment. He called Judge a “a really good coach” at the NFL Meetings.
