There is a mix of optimism and doubt among New England Patriots fans as the team enters the 2023 season. However, linebacker Matthew Judon is not panicking. He made his stance clear during a recent media appearance.
The pass-rusher appeared on “Good Morning Football” with confidence in his team. The Patriots have had a busy offseason, losing Devin McCourty to retirement, but also signing offensive weapons like Mike Gesicki and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
In addition, New England took care of in-house business. The re-signings of Jonathan Jones and Myles Bryant should help bolster the secondary once again. Defense was a strength for New England last season, and much of this unit is returning in 2023.
“It doesn’t matter. You gotta go out there and play, and that’s the thing you have to do,” said Judon, as transcribed by NESN.com’s Dakota Randall. “When nobody’s talking about you and you don’t have high expectations, you have nothing to lose. … We lost (Devin) McCourty, but we have our defense coming back. Our offense, we signed a lot of guys up front that nobody’s talking about to steady up the line. So, regardless of who we have and who’s talking about us, and what type of nuances we have … it doesn’t matter. We gotta go out there and play.
“So, once you get all those pieces, you gotta work with those pieces. And we’ve seen plenty of teams get constructed, and you look at the paper and you’re like, ‘They got these guys, they got them, they got them, obviously Super Bowl wins.’ But it doesn’t happen every year.”
Judon’s fearless attitude may come in handy, as the AFC East continues to get stronger with acquisitions.
New England will have their work cut out for them in what is expected to be a tight divisional race. Nevertheless, Judon is not afraid to take on the challenge.
