Patriots

Matt Judon was incredulous to learn he has just one QB hit in past month

"Oh we played Indy. S---, they ran the ball."

Patriots linebacker Matt Judon sails through the air as he leaves the field following New England's 50-10 victory. Jim Davis/Globe Staff

By Tom Westerholm

January 6, 2022

Matt Judon leads the Patriots in sacks by a significant margin at 12.5, but he has been a little quieter in recent weeks — he hasn’t wiped his mouth since December 6 against the Bills.

Still, Judon was shocked on Thursday when the Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan noted that he had just one quarterback hit in the last month.

“I only got one QB hit in the past month?” Judon repeated, incredulously.

Callahand confirmed the stat, which differs on various sites (Football-Reference credits Judon with two against the Bills on Dec. 6) but still points to a larger trend.

“It was a sack, wasn’t it?” Judon asked.

It was.

“Right, right, right,” Judon mumbled, more to himself than to the reporters on the call. “And then we had a bye week, and then we played the Bills … oh, we played Indy. S—, they ran the ball.”

Judon has a few mitigating circumstances — he played very limited snaps against the Jaguars on Sunday as he recovered from COVID-19, the Patriots were on their bye for Week 14, and (as he noted) the Colts ran the ball in Week 15.

“That’s just 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’ve got to do. You’ve got to stop the run and you have to also be a run defender.

“That’s why I got teammates. I want to be that guy, I want to be the guy everybody look upon, but sometimes I might get blocked different and then other guys step up. And I love what they do, and I celebrate and enjoy their successes as much as they celebrate and enjoy my success.”

So don’t expect Judon to start chasing sacks and QB hits just to satisfy curious reporters … probably.

“I’m not going to watch stats and I wouldn’t have even known that, but I’m not going to watch stats I’m just going to go out there and play my game, and hopefully I can get some more QB hits for you Andrew,” Judon said, smiling.

A reporter asked if Judon was taking requests now.

“Yeah I mean, shoot I guess,” Judon said. “I think he’s saying my pride or something. I don’t know.”