Matthew Judon put together his first five successful seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, posting 34.5 sacks in 76 career games with the team, performing well enough to earn a lucrative four-year deal with the Patriots. This weekend Judon will faceoff against his former team for the first time since departing and had nothing but love for his former team and a former scout team quarterback he faced off against who has since taken the league by storm.
"It's just another game honestly," said Judon on Thursday. "If we win or if we lose, we just get one win, we just get one loss. I want to win. I want to win every game. There's no bad blood, it was all business. I still talk to a lot of guys on that team, after the game I'm going to shake their hands and love on them, all that. I wish nothing but the best to anybody over there, but it's just one game."
The Ravens look a little different these days that when Judon left, with Lamar Jackson at quarterback just two years removed from an MVP season. Judon recalled going up against Jackson when he was just a rookie and serving early on as the team's scout quarterback.
"We had to defend him at practice so we knew what he was and what he had because he was a scout team quarterback," said Judon. "It was fun, our defense was fun back then, we made a lot of different looks, made a lot of different things happen. It was just him being a playmaker and how elusive he is... It was just fun, it was challenging."
This week Jackson is far from a scout team quarterback. He's one of the best in the league and an explosive weapon who can beat any defense with his arm or legs. It's a challenge Judon looks forward to.
"We know what we know about him, he's a good quarterback, one of the best in the league, we just got to go out there and try to stop him on a down after down basis."
