It appears as though there’s no love lost between Patriots star pass rusher Matthew Judon and WEEI radio hosts Andy Gresh and Christian Fauria.
Fauria — who won two Super Bowls (XXXVIII, XXXIX) with the Patriots as a tight end — and Gresh were called out on social media by Judon on Tuesday amid the ongoing drama surrounding Judon’s contract dispute with New England.
In a video posted by WEEI that featured both Gresh and Fauria commenting on Judon’s contract strife and his decision to leave Patriots practice last week, Judon responded — doling out some vitriol toward the radio hosts.
“I said when was aren’t in pads but besides me staying hours on hours to sign and throw the ball around with the fan how about yall come talk to me,” Judon posted Tuesday on the social media platform X. “And this me tweeting. You (expletives) just sit down and talk.”
It didn’t take very long for both Fauria and Gresh to respond to Judon’s latest comments on Wednesday afternoon.
“Matt Judon is upset that people aren’t rallying around him,” Gresh told Fauria, per WEEI. “The fans are not circling around screaming, ‘By god, we need Judon.’ There’s no riots in the streets. I hate to say this to Matthew Judon. You are not Willie McGinest. You’re not.
“Willie McGinest was the voice of the defense, was respected, was a badass. … That guy is beloved at defensive end. I’m sorry to say Matt Judon, you’re not a beloved figure here to where people and fans are gonna scream and bend over backwards that you have to be on this roster.”
Despite sitting out of practices last week, Judon stressed on Monday that he intends to play through the final year of his contract — even though he’s looking for a greater payout moving forward on his next deal.
“No, I’ve got to play. Didn’t say nothing about (progress),” Judon said. “I’ve got to go out there and play, I’ve got to play the game. I’ve got to do what I’m contractually obligated to do so I don’t lose money.”
Still, even though Judon has been candid in his official meetings with the media so far during training camp, he has vented his frustrations about his stagnant contract talks on social media as well.
Last week, The Athletic’s Diana Russini posted on X that the Patriots had offered Judon a new deal since the start of training camp. After a fan tagged Judon on the post, he dismissed Russini’s report.
“No they haven’t but it makes me look bad again,” he posted. “Don’t believe the lies.”
No they haven’t but it makes me look bad again. Don’t believe the lies
— Matthew Judon (@man_dammn) July 31, 2024
Judon’s response prompted Russini to delete her initial tweet, replacing it with a follow-up post that said that Judon has received “a few” Patriots offers before the start of New England’s training camp, but still hadn’t put pen to paper on a new deal.
