FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Patriots LB Matthew Judon was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week by the National Football League for his performance in the Patriots 29-0 shutout victory over the Detroit Lions last Sunday. Detroit entered the game with the top ranked defense and was averaging 35 points per game. It is the second Player of the Week Award for Judon in his career. He earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors following a Week 11 performance in 2017 while with Baltimore.
Judon became the first Patriots player to start a season with a sack in each of the first five games with a 2-sack performance against Detroit to move into a tie for first in the NFL with six total sacks. He had a 9-yard sack of QB Jared Goff in the second quarter and then forced a fumble on a 13-yard sack later in the second quarter that was returned for a 59-yard touchdown. The last player in the NFL to accomplish a sack in the first five games of the season was LB Clay Matthews with the Los Angeles Rams in 2019 when he had a sack in each of the first six games of the season. Judon's 6 sacks through the first five games are second to the team record 6 ½ sacks he had in the first five games of the 2021 season.
Last year, Patriots players earned two NFL Player of the Week and two NFL Player of the Month honors. Adrian Phillips was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the Patriots victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 8 (10/31/21). Nick Folk was named Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in the win at Houston in Week 5 (10/10/22). J.C. Jackson earned AFC Defensive Player of the Month for November and QB Mac Jones was named Offensive Rookie of the Month for November
