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Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — In his first public comments since walking off the practice field last Monday after what appeared to be an animated conversation with head coach Jerod Mayo, New England Patriots outside linebacker Matthew Judon said he wasn’t ready to participate that day and left because he didn’t want to be a distraction to the team.
Judon, who has been seeking an upgraded contract, explained that when he made it inside Gillette Stadium, he then received a message that led him to return to the field and speak with executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and director of player personnel Matt Groh. Similar to his interaction with Mayo that day, Judon appeared to be animated.
Judon, who hinted Monday that there hasn’t been significant advancements in contract talks, remarked that any comments about negotiations needed to come from Wolf and Groh.
“Like I told you all before, I would pay myself and we’d never talk about it. But it’s not up to me,” he said. “I told you all I wanted to stay here the rest of my career.”
Judon is scheduled to earn a base salary of $6.5 million in the last season of the four-year, $56 million contract he signed in March 2021. He said that he would play on his current salary as a last resort because he didn’t want to lose any money, while also acknowledging that coming off a torn biceps, which limited him to four games last season, is a factor in contract talks.
“We have a market, it’s set by the highest [paid] guy, then everybody falls in line until the next person is up to break that [top] contract. Coming from the season I had, I was injured mostly all season, so that’s not really where my market is. But like I said, I don’t think it’s $6.5 [million],” he said.
Judon, who turns 32 on Aug. 15 and had been selected to four straight Pro Bowls before last season, has been the Patriots’ top pass rusher when healthy. He totaled 12.5 sacks in his first season in New England, then followed it up with 15.5 in 2022. Pro Football Hall of Famer Andre Tippett (18.5 in 1984 and 16.5 in 1985) is the only Patriots player to record more sacks in a season than Judon’s 15.5.
Judon also didn’t practice Tuesday, and teammates said he wasn’t at the facility that day. It remains unclear if that was Judon’s decision or dictated by the team. Judon returned to practice Thursday and has been a full participant since over four practices.
Asked why he wasn’t ready to practice last Monday and Tuesday, and what has changed since then, Judon said simply: “I had something going on.”
Judon had also said on a podcast that he proposed a contract to the Patriots and was awaiting a response, but when asked about the specifics of his proposal after Monday’s practice, Judon said he didn’t have the details with him.
Judon, who is usually outgoing and verbose in his interactions with reporters, was more tight-lipped with his responses Monday.
“There’s football and there’s football business. They are two different things,” he said. “I love playing football, I love my teammates. I don’t like the business of football.”
Source: www.espn.com