Matthew Judon assumed life without Devin McCourty was going to be tough, especially when it came to the retired safety’s role as the defense’s chief communicator, moving players around based on what he saw pre-snap.
But thus far, the Patriots linebacker has been pleasantly surprised at how well the overall communication has gone for the defense through training camp and the preseason.
“Shoot, I be thinking it’s fluid. I think our play callers do a great job from the second level to the third level, and they communicate it to us up front,” Judon said following Wednesday’s practice. “If we get a look, and we have a check, I think it’s been getting out fast, and communicated. It’s just a different voice. But I think it’s just as sharp as it was with Dev.”
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One of McCourty’s calling cards was his ability to quickly re-set the defense based on what he saw from the offensive alignment.
“I think we all thought it was going to slow down, and be a little bit complicated because Dev’s been doing it for so long,” said Judon. “But I don’t think so. I think it’s as sharp as it’s ever been with me being around here. I think our play callers are doing a great job.”
Whether it’s linebackers Ja’Whaun Bentley or Jahlani Tavai from the second level, or safeties Adrian Phillips, Kyle Dugger, Jalen Mills or Jabrill Peppers from the back, Judon said the defense hasn’t missed a beat when it comes to communication.
Bottom line, Judon said it’s all about the Patriots defense improving and being better than it was last season. struggles against some of the better quarterbacks.
“We’re just going out there and we’re trying to be better every day. We just trying to improve,” Judon said when asked about the group’s failures against the better quarterbacks last season. “We’re returning a lot of guys that played a lot of snaps. We gotta be better. We gotta be more cohesive, and we gotta be able to be more fluid, move around, in and out of positions, in and out of plays, in and out of coverages, in and out of looks, and just keep the offense on their toes . . . when we can do that, we’re going to cause havoc for offenses.”
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