Patriots' Joe Judge was impressed with Mac Jones during 2021 joint practices with Giants

It remains unclear exactly what current New England Patriots offensive assistant Joe Judge will be doing on gamedays beginning with preseason contests. Judge pointed out on Monday he is currently working with 2021 rookie Mac Jones and the other New England quarterbacks on the roster but wouldn't go so far as to say he'll be the Patriots' top offensive play-caller now that former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is the head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders. 

Last summer, Judge was serving as New York Giants head coach when Big Blue and the Patriots held joint practices ahead of the regular season. He spoke with reporters about how he initially became impressed with seeing Jones in action even before the 23-year-old took a snap in a meaningful game. 

"I like the way he handled and commanded the huddle and the team last year when we practiced against him," Judge explained, according to Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "That was the thing that stood out to me, not the completions, incompletions, whatever they may be. But it was just really seeing him interact. 

"I was standing behind both huddles at the time, really watching how it went and was put together. So I had the option to listen to both huddles. And when he stepped in the huddle, you could see a command. You could see the players' eyes on him. That’s something that really stood out to me when you walked off the field of, 'OK, they’re going to be alright with this young guy.'" 

Judge may now be tasked with getting the most out of the "young guy" who, per ESPN stats, finished his debut pro season 15th with a 92.5 passer rating, 16th with a 50.9 total QBR, and a Pro Bowl nod for his résumé.