There have been rumors all offseason about New England Patriots assistant coach Joe Judge changing his role. Now, those rumors are confirmed.
Special teams coordinator Cam Achord spoke to the media and confirmed the changes.
Judge was an offensive assistant with the team last year, helping Matt Patricia call offensive plays. There were reports earlier this year that Judge would be assuming a new role in a different capacity, and now it appears he is going back to special teams.
New England’s special teams were one of the worst in football last season with the Patriots allowing two kickoff returns for touchdowns against the Buffalo Bills in their final game. Those blunders were a microcosm of how much the team struggled in that area.
Achord seems pleased that Judge will be helping him on the special teams unit, as transcribed by NESN.com’s Dakota Randall.
“I have to give credit for when I first got into the league,” said Achord. “Joe Judge brought me in. I learned under coach and learned so much from him. Obviously, he’s a great coach, so any time you can add more coaches to help you, influence you and work together, it’s only going to make you better.
“The better coaches you have, the better coach you are. If it’s one of us, two of us, three of us, four of us — Troy is working with returners. The more good coaches you have in the kicking game, the better you’re going to be.”
The proof is in the pudding, but the Patriots should be able to get back on track on special teams. They’ll have to if they want to have success in 2023.
