It appears that we now know the culprit behind the New England Patriots’ recent rules violation that cost them several practices and a fine: Joe Judge.
According to Greg Bedard via Zack Cox, the NFLPA has alleged that Judge – who currently serves as the Patriots’ special teams coach – directed players to be at the team’s facility longer than the maximum of four hours permitted by the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
“(The NFLPA alleged) ‘that Patriots’ Special Teams Coach Joe Judge directed special teams players to be at the Club’s facility longer than the maximum of four hours permitted during Phase Two of the Club’s program.'”
As you might imagine, Patriots fans aren’t thrilled with Judge being the one responsible for their recent issue. There are a lot of jokes being made at his expense on Twitter right now:
“(The NFLPA alleged) ‘that Patriots’ Special Teams Coach Joe Judge directed special teams players to be at the Club’s facility longer than the maximum of four hours permitted during Phase Two of the Club’s program.’ ” https://t.co/NOWOLspCHO
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) May 25, 2023
“Great, he can’t even handle special teams correctly anymore,” one fan replied.
“No wonder the Giants sucked under him He can’t tell time!” another joked.
“Joe judge is such an asset to this organization,” a third wrote, dripping with sarcasm.
Last year Joe Judge was part of the Patriots’ ill-fated attempt to run the offense without an established offensive coordinator. After that debacle, they went back to the Belichick coaching tree and hired Bill O’Brien from Alabama to take the role for the foreseeable future.
Is Judge going to get into trouble with Belichick after what just happened?