FOXBOROUGH - Somebody had an extra shot of espresso or doubled down on the Red Bull Saturday morning. Matthew Judon had his most active practice since the start of training camp, playing with intensity and loads of energy, which was lacking during Friday's session.
During his very first play of 11-on-11, Judon set a hard edge on starting (*at least for now) LT Vederian Lowe, forcing Rhamondre Stevenson into Lowe's backside and then onto the ground. Later, on a running play that went away from him (and you'll read elsewhere that was broken for a long run when the reality is he was stuffed after about two yards because Austin Hooper got whupped), Judon ran some 40 yards down the field, and even dove - might have been for show - when no one else did. Later, in red zone work, Judon chewed up rookie right tackle Caedan Wallace, beating himself inside cleanly. That forced Jacoby Brissett to throw the ball away purposefully.
As with yesterday's practice, it was still hard to discern if Judon was wearing his leg pads (he was wearing sweatpants), but head coach Jerod Mayo insisted he was/is.
"Judon had everything on, and he participated in every single drill. Team drills, individual drills, he did everything he had to do. Sometimes, when they put pants on, you can't really tell. But I think the shoulder pads kind of give it away. No, we don't do uppers. Either we're full pads, or we're shells.
(*editor's note: for the record, I didn't ask if he was wearing shoulder pads, and I know what shells mean)
For a player to hold-in, as Judon did last year, the team has to agree to it. He can't just show up and not participate unless there's an injury. That's a fine-able action. It's possible the Patriots told him they weren't going to play along, and it was get out there or else. If so, it's working.
"Like I said, we're moving past the Judon thing," said Mayo. "We're both in a good place. I think the team is in a good place, and we're pushing forward."
HAPPY HUNTER
Two of the best plays in practice Saturday came courtesy of tight end Hunter Henry. He made a ridiculous one-handed catch along the sideline with a good crowd voicing its approval, then later, fought to get open in the red zone and made a diving catch just short of the goal post. It was a struggle to get to that ball, but the nine-year vet found a way.
"This is the third day in a row. So you know, obviously, this was a day you had to grind through and push through, but it was good for us," he said. "You need to stack those days. You got some heavy legs, and you got to push through it. And that's what it will be sometimes in games. You're gonna be tired, you're gonna be exhausted, and you got to continue to keep going and have good fundamentals and lock in and those crucial situations."
Jacoby Brissett's throw was to a spot, and there's a vital element of trust, especially when throwing the ball into the end zone. But we're seeing more comfort in that regard, with Henry's reliability, football smarts, and consistency coming into play.
"You can only do it by reps, man," said Henry of building that relationship with Brissett. "Obviously, you can talk about it all you want in the meeting room, but the more reps we get at that, like the more you're going to, you know, execute it better and better and better. We can talk about where we want the ball, how we see a different route, how he sees it, but you know, sometimes we just have to just go out there and execute it. We were able to do that a few times. There's still things that we got to clean up, still things that we got to get better at, but we got time for that."
POPULAR GUY
On Friday, Demario Douglas came up the stairs to the practice field wearing a white jersey, apparently shedding the red non-contact jersey given to him because of a hand injury suffered before training camp started.
But after a few minutes, Pop was called over to the sideline and had to return to red. Suffice it to say, the second-year wideout was trying to pull a fast one.
"I tried," he said, laughing. "They were like, 'Nah.' It's all for the good, though."
Despite the injury designation — no hitting guys in red — Douglas has been nearly a full participant the last two practices, and what a world of difference it's made. His quickness plays like no one else's on the team, and he is reflective of some who came before him in the slot, guys like Welker and Edelman (and didn't say he was them...)
"His explosiveness, what he can do in stretching the field, is a weapon for us," said Brissett Friday. "He's a guy that loves football. You can tell. He pops off on tape, no pun intended. It's a lot of fun having him in the huddle. His energy is contagious."
Come to find out that Douglas has been sitting next to Brissett in meetings, although initially, more by happenstance than anything. But that's been beneficial for the affable second-year pro, who's soaking it all up.
"Leadership," said Douglas when asked what Brissett brings to the table. "He's been in the game for a minute. And he knows - he played under Tom (Brady). He got a great knowledge of the game, and he's teaching it to us."
Valuable lessons for a player who's been the Pats best receiver for a second straight summer.