Matt Judon Can't Believe His QB Hit Total From Last Month, But 'I'm Happy I Got Teammates'
BOSTON (CBS) -- From Week 2 through Week 13, Patriots edge defender Matthew Judon was an absolute sack machine. In just 12 games, he set a new single-season career high with 12.5 sacks, registering 24 quarterback hits.
Over the past three weeks though, Judon's been pretty quiet. While missing all of last week's practices due to COVID-19 certainly limited his availability in the 50-10 win over the Jaguars, he didn't get to the quarterback at all in the Patriots' previous two games -- at Indianapolis and at home vs. Buffalo.
Judon spoke with the New England media on Thursday, and he was asked about the downturn in production.
"I only got one QB hit in the past month?" an incredulous Judon said. (He actually has two, both in the victory in Buffalo.
Judon ran through the games quickly in his mind, noting that Indy mostly ran the ball (Carson Wentz only threw 12 passes) before resigning himself to the fact that a season generally has its highs and its lows.
"Well that's that's how it goes," Judon said. "I think as far as being a pass rusher, I'm still a pass rusher. But if a team like Indy just comes out and runs the ball, that's just kind of what you gotta do, you've gotta stop the run. You've gotta also be a run defender. So it is what it is."
While Judon's 12.5 sacks make him far and away the leader on the Patriots (Kyle Van Noy ranks second with four), he spoke of the collective effort required from the entire front seven to compete and win football games.
"That's why I'm happy I got teammates," Judon said. "You know, guys like Deatrich Wise, Christian Barmore, [Lawrence Guy], Chase [Winovich], [Josh Uche], [Dont'a Hightower] got a sack, last week popped the game off with a sack. That's why I got teammates, you know? I want to be that guy. I want to be the guy that everybody looks upon. But sometimes I might get blocked different and then other guys step up. And I love what they do."
