Giants’ Judge adamant he’s not another ex-belichick assistant copying old boss
Trying to be Bill Belichick doesn’t work.
Joe Judge seems to understand that. He appears to know the history of the many former Patriots assistants who tried to mimic their New England boss as head coaches and failed.
So before Judge and the Giants took a train north on Tuesday for two days of joint practices against the Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., he wanted to make it clear that “I’m not trying to recreate anywhere I’ve ever been” in New York.
“I’m very careful a lot of times to make sure everyone in this organization knows that I’m not trying to make this team anything but the New York Giants,” Judge said Monday. “I’m not trying to recreate anywhere I’ve ever been. I’m not trying to go ahead and emulate or imitate any other program. This is the New York Giants and we’re going to do it with our players, we’re going to do it in our personality, we’re going to do it the way we think is best for us.”
Patriots assistants Josh Mcdaniels and Matt Patricia headline the cautionary tales of former Belichick employees who tried and failed to bring The Patriot Way elsewhere as head coaches.
Eric Mangini, Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel are also among the Belichick staffers who couldn’t win or sustain at the helm regardless of their success or experience as coordinators.
Judge, 39, spent eight years on Belichick’s staff (2012-19), including five as special teams coordinator. He has relationships with longtime colleagues Mcdaniels and Patricia, has respect and friendships with Belichick and innumerable decision-makers in New England.
And some of Judge’s tactics and tendencies — including his blunt, detailed approach to corrections — naturally lend to comparisons to how Belichick runs his ship at Gillette Stadium.
Belichick expecting Newton back this week: Belichick said he expects Cam Newton to return to the field this week for the second day of joint practices with the Giants after the quarterback missed a second day of practice because of a misunderstanding of COVID-19 testing rules.
Newton is under an Nfl-mandated five-day reentry process for unvaccinated players after traveling to a team-approved, out-oftown medical appointment over the weekend.
The Patriots issued a statement Monday about the trip, saying the quarterback had tested negative daily for COVID-19 while he was away but had misconstrued the protocols about tests conducted away from NFL facilities.
Newton’s absences Monday and Tuesday were his first of training camp. Belichick confirmed he would be eligible to return to workouts on Thursday. He declined to say if he expected Newton to play in Sunday’s exhibition finale against the Giants.
According to NFL and NFL Players Association protocols, only unvaccinated players are subject to the five-day reentry period that requires daily testing. Fully vaccinated players are required to get tested once every 14 days.
Asked if this incident would affect how he handles the quarterback position this season, Belichick said his only concern was adhering to the protocols.
“The league rules are the league rules and we’ll keep complying with them,” he said. “Whatever they are, they are.”
But Belichick did acknowledge that Newton’s unavailability would give rookie quarterback Mac Jones an increased opportunity while Newton was missing practice.
Fans will be allowed: The Giants and Patriots are scheduled to practice at 10 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday on the fields behind Gillette Stadium. The practices are open to the public, so die-hard Giants fans shut out from watching their team practice in New Jersey can drive north to catch their team in action the next two days . ... Injuries have made some of the Giants’ early roster decisions for them. Tuesday’s cuts to get the roster to 80 included tight end Rysen John (ankle) and safety Quincy Wilson (ankle) going on injured reserve and safety Montre Hartage (shoulder) and tight end Cole Hikutini (hip) being waived. Long-snapper Carson Tinker’s contract also was terminated.