Gronk, Ninkovich question Belichick's leadership
What exactly is going on with Patriots Pro Bowl pass rusher Matthew Judon? No one is saying publicly, but it’s been widely reported that he wants his contract adjusted to bring it more in line with other top pass rushers around the NFL, leading to speculation that he is performing something of a “hold-in” during training camp.
While Judon has been at Gillette Stadium every day, he continues to spend more time off to the side than on the field taking part in drills. He has participated in a couple practices, but has been a non-participant most of this week.
Whatever is going on, it’s not sitting well with a couple prominent former Patriots. Rob Gronkowski joined former teammate Rob Ninkovich on Ninkovich’s “Dan & Ninko” podcast this week, and both had plenty of criticism for both Judon and New England coach Bill Belichick over how the situation is being handled.
“Matthew Judon holding out right now at training camp and not participating in drills is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever heard,” Gronkowski said, as transcribed by the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin.
“Isn’t that silly?” Ninkovich responded.
“That’s silly,” Gronkowski added. “I don’t know. Just go hold out. You don’t want to get fined, but you’re asking for more money, but you don’t want to get fined? Well, if you’re asking for more money, then be a boss and ask them to cancel the fines out when you get a new deal or something.”
It’s worth noting that while that approach was possible during Gronkowski and Ninkovich’s playing days, the NFL’s new collective bargaining agreement actually prevents teams from rescinding holdout fines, which is why these “hold-ins” have become more common in the last few years.
Gronkowski also leveled criticism against Belichick and questioned whether he is losing control of the situation.
“Bill letting that happen, that is weird,” Gronk said. “He always says, ‘You’re either all in, or you’re all out.’ Is he losing control or something? I don’t know.”
“It’s a bad situation,” Ninkovich added. “It’s a weird situation because this is the first time that Bill has ever had that on his team.”
Ninkovich also said that it doesn’t just affect the relationship between Judon and Belichick, but also the rest of the team because Judon is a team leader and younger players are looking at the example he sets.
“This is the problem,” Ninkovich said. “When you have a potential leader that is disgruntled, that these young guys are looking at, and he doesn’t have good leadership skills, he doesn’t want to show up or doesn’t want to take reps, that affects these young guys.”
Gronk agreed: “It trickles down, a trickle-down effect.”
When Judon met with the media on Friday, he said he was “happy to be here” and made it clear he was not going to talk about his contract publicly. He also did not explicitly deny that he was looking for it to be adjusted, though.
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