FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Patriots LB Josh Uche has been named AFC Defensive Player of the Week by the National Football League for his performance in the Patriots 27-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football. Uche had his second 3-sack game of the 2022 season and now has a career-high 10 sacks. He also had three sacks at the New York Jets on Oct. 30. Andre Tippett (3-sack game in 1985 and 3-sack game in 1987) and Mike Vrabel (two 3-sack games in 2007) are the only Patriots players with multiple 3-sack games in a season. Uche had two sacks vs. Buffalo on Dec. 1 and followed that game with three sacks against Arizona. He is the first Patriots player since Trey Flowers in 2016 to have back-to-back games with at least two sacks. It is the first AFC Defensive Player of the Year honor for Uche. Uche has recorded all 10 of his sacks in the last six games.
It is the fourth time in 2022 that the Patriots have been awarded a player of the week honor. In addition to Uche, LB Matthew Judon was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his 2-sack performance in the Patriots win vs. Detroit in Week 5. K Nick Folk was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 8 at the New York Jets, and DB Marcus Jones was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 11 vs. the New York Jets.
