Monday Patriots News 6/16: Daily Notebook - Undrafted WR's Study Habits Paying Off

Some Patriots news and notes on this Monday:

1) There was a lot of frustration aired following the trade of Matthew Judon trade to Atlanta last season, with the Patriots taking heat for dealing him, especially given how bad their pass rush was in 2024.

Following a year in 2023 where Judon finished with 13 tackles, including 4 sacks and 9 quarterback hits, his hope was obviously to cash in the following offseason. But the elbow injury he suffered in Week 4 sidelined him for the remainder of the season, which, at 32 years old, clearly had the team feeling uneasy about his future.

With a new coaching staff after Jerod Mayo assumed the head coaching duties, the focus became clear last offseason on getting younger and shedding older players, especially ones with higher salaries. Judon, who was looking for an extension heading into the final year of his deal, seemingly made his displeasure known behind the scenes, with things eventually spilling out publicly.

Judon took the field in a practice in late July where, unlike his teammates, he wasn’t wearing pads during the club’s first padded session. Instead, he was wearing sweatpants, and after playing pass with fans at the start of practice, he was spotted sitting on a stack of pads off to the side while his teammates worked out.

Jun 10, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots linebacker Matthew Judon (9) (red) heads to the practice field at minicamp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

(PHOTO: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports)

That led to Mayo heading over and having a lengthy conversation with the veteran, and it didn’t seem like it went like Judon might have wanted it to. Judon left the field after they talked, only to return later and have what appeared to be an animated discussion with both Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh as the linebacker gestured with his hands while speaking with the two Patriots personnel decision-makers.

He obviously tried to make his case, but the club eventually opted to move on. A couple of weeks later, the Patriots executed the deal to send him to Atlanta for a 3rd round pick, ending his tenure with the team.

Mayo said during an interview on WEEI following the move that while he had a good relationship with Judon, he felt it was a win-win for the team.

“Look, Matthew and I have a great relationship,” said Mayo. “And I’m not sure what you guys thought, but we had a conversation man-to-man, which I thought was a good conversation. It wasn’t heated, it wasn’t anything like that. It was more just to figure out, “Like, what are we trying to achieve here?” Matthew, he’s made many contributions to our team. I love him both as a player and as a man, but I have nothing but good things to say about him. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out. What I will say, I think it’s a win-win. He wanted a new contract and things like that, and I think it was a win-win for all of us.”

Wolf added that the team simply had to make a tough decision, focusing instead on the future.

“All these decisions are difficult,” said Wolf. “We have to weigh now, the future, what’s best for the team, what’s best for the player. It was something that we just felt organizationally, and for Matthew, it was probably the best for both parties.”

Whether or not the deal helped the team in the long term will certainly be something they’re judged on. The trade ultimately landed New England the 77th overall pick (Round 3) in this year’s 2025 Patriots draft. The Patriots then parlayed that selection into Georgia center Jared Wilson (95th overall), LSU linebacker Bradyn Swinson (146th overall), and a 2026 4th-round pick, with the Patriots trading back twice from 77th, moving back initially to 85th, and then again before they ultimately took Wilson with the 95th overall selection.

Judon had an up-and-down performance in Atlanta in 2024, ultimately finishing the season with 5.5 sacks along with 9 quarterback hits. However, he didn’t receive an extension from the Falcons and quietly remains among some interesting names still unsigned this offseason. Joining Judon in that group are some notable defensive names, such as Stephon Gilmore, Jadeveon Clowney, and Von Miller.

2) With the retirement of Wes Schweizer last week, the competition at left guard seemed to see things tip in Cole Strange’s favor. But there was one name that was missing from the group competing at that spot, with Tyrese Robinson absent from the team’s recent sessions.

However, Mike Reiss shed some light on the fourth-year former undrafted free agent’s absence on Sunday. Reiss reported in his weekly notes column that Robinson was away due to the death of his sister, who reportedly recently passed away from cancer.

Robinson had been on an upward trajectory, with the 25-year-old playing 61/64 snaps in the finale against Buffalo at right guard after stepping in for Mike Onwenu. Last year’s 2024 rookie, Layden Robinson, got the start at left guard in that game, playing 100% of the snaps in what was his 5th consecutive start on that side. The early reports had seemed positive for Robinson, who now has a shot to potentially earn a role on the depth chart in training camp.

How things will shape up remains to be seen, and best wishes to the young lineman when he does return at the end of next month.

Jun 10, 2025; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Efton Chism III (86) speaks to the media after minicamp held in the WIN Field House at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images

(PHOTO: Eric Canha-Imagn Images)

3) Undrafted receiver Efton Chism has certainly made some noise this spring, and he appears poised to potentially push someone off the roster next month if he can continue his momentum.

One interesting note came from the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed, who pointed out that Chism’s work behind the scenes has helped play a key role into even getting on the field to begin with. Chism is apparently huge into film study, with his knowledge of the offense being one of the big things that’s stood out to the coaching staff so far.

He told Kyed that one of the biggest things he’s focused on is watching film of past Patriots players, most notably how guys like Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, Wes Welker, and Troy Brown all excelled in their change of direction to be more effective working the inside part of the field.

“That’s kind of another one of my goals coming these next couple weeks we got the time off, is just to go through a bunch of (Patriots) seasons, watch a bunch of games, see how they did it, because it’s pretty much same offense, a lot of the same stuff,” said Chism. “So just see how they did it, and trying to try to develop that into my game.”

One other thing Chism talked about was the importance of being able to beat man coverage. While finding an open spot in zone is one thing, another area he’s focused on during his film study is seeing how those players were able to beat man coverage, which he believes is absolutely critical here in the NFL.

“Obviously, they feel zones very well. I think that’s very special with all of them, seeing when they sit, when they run, certain things like that,” he told Kyed. “But I mean, in this league, especially coming from the FCS, people are going to say the man coverage is going to be the biggest part of getting open. So, you know, just seeing what they did and take that.”

Plenty of lesser-talented guys have made it in this league by outworking the guys around them and maximizing the things they’re good at. That seems to be the track he’s on so far, which he likely hopes will see him among the last players standing by the time the team makes its final cuts.

Jun 9, 2025; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson (32) walks to the practice fields at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images

(PHOTO: Eric Canha-Imagn Images)

4) Rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson appears to be making a good early impression. His speed was something that turned a lot of heads this spring, and the players around him have seemingly been impressed by what they’ve seen.

“Explosive. An explosive guy,” teammate Rhamondre Stevenson said via Christopher Price of the Boston Globe. “He’s learning. He’s learning pretty quickly. And I’m excited for him.”

Henderson, at least so far, seems to have the edge ahead of Antonio Gibson, given how things reportedly played out this spring. One thing that’s also stood out in the early going is that Henderson’s ability to pass block was also notable, with his first real test coming next month when the club eventually dons pads for the first time.

However, regardless of how things unfold or how many snaps he ultimately sees, Price spoke to Henderson’s former running backs coach at Ohio State, Carlos Locklyn, who said the rookie is an unselfish player, so he’ll likely fit in just fine regardless of how his playing time works out this fall.

“I think he’s built for it, especially when you consider his time at Ohio State,” Locklyn told Price. “I mean, splitting carries ain’t bad. He’s not a selfish young man. All backs want the ball, but he understands playing as one.”

The hope this offseason was that New England would add some explosiveness to its offense, and Henderson remains someone who could absolutely be a difference-maker in 2025.

5) Head coach Mike Vrabel talked about continuing to look at how they can get better at all levels, and it appears they’re doing just that in the front office.

MassLive’s Mark Daniels reported on Monday that the Patriots have hired Cam McCormick , and Ben Langford as scouting assistants, along with Max Mulitz as a personnel analytics director.

McCormick is a former player from the University of Miami, whom Daniels points out, Alonzo Highsmith had familiarity with. Langford joins the team from New Mexico Highlands University, while Mulitz worked with the Miami Dolphins last year as the team’s director of coaching analytics.

The changes and additions in-house aren’t a surprise, given Vrabel’s comments last month. He said at the time everything was on the table, not just with players, but with coaches and at “every level.”

“We’re going to continue to try to add players that are going to help us,” said Vrabel. “We’re going to try to continue to add coaches that can help us potentially. I would say that we’re going to probably try to do the same in the personnel department. So anybody that can help us, and we feel like can help us ultimately win, we’re going to try to do that at every level throughout the program.”

About Ian Logue

Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.

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