Josh Uche’s Pass Rush Is Beginning To Blossom In Third Year With New England Patriots

Through two regular seasons, Josh Uche stood with four sacks on his NFL résumé. The outside linebacker has since matched that total over the last two games.

The late bloom that was seen with the Michigan Wolverines is now being seen with the New England Patriots, even if the former No. 60 overall pick hasn’t started on defense since the end of his rookie year.

After being inactive twice in October due to a hamstring injury, Uche returned a week ago to take down New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson for his first sack since last November. He then took down Indianapolis Colts quarterback Sam Ehlinger for three sacks on Sunday.

“I’m just being me,” Uche, 24, told reporters following New England’s 26-3 win at Gillette Stadium. “You know I always have faith in myself and even when nobody else believes in me, I kind of always knew what I was capable of.”

Uche appeared in 14 contests between his freshman and sophomore campaigns in Ann Arbor before leading the school in sacks as a junior and senior. He did not become a starter until 2019, when 8.5 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and second-team All-Big Ten honors were earned.

But ankle and foot injuries brought Uche to injured reserve to begin and end 2020 in Foxborough. Another stint on injured reserve surfaced midway through 2021, when he finished 17th on the defense in snaps played and saw more time on special teams than the front during the AFC wild card.

The depth chart has shifted from veterans to youth since then. The role has begun to align with the traits.

“I think Josh has been pretty consistent here for a while,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said during his Monday video conference. “Sometimes the numbers come in bunches, or not. Or they could come in droughts, too. But his overall pass-rush skill is good. He’s got speed. He’s athletic. He’s developing more power, timing and execution on pass-rush games. Doing a lot of things well. Doing some things better. Again, there’s always room to improve. … Of course, he’s seen more and more here over the last three years. So some of the things that maybe caught him a little bit by surprise or he wasn’t quite ready for in the past are more familiar to him now.”

New England’s defense finished with nine sacks against Indianapolis. On an afternoon where the visitors went 0-for-14 on third down and totaled 121 yards of offense, Uche’s hat trick coincided with a back-to-back-to-back Pro Bowler’s.

One who signed a four-year, $54.5 million contract in March 2021 and has gone on to set franchise marks in red sleeves.

“I don’t know if y’all know, but Josh actually calls the plays out there when we’re on third down, so our execution is from him,” NFL sack leader Matthew Judon said postgame after notching a trio of his own. “That’s hard for somebody that’s in Year 3 and hasn’t had that much success in the NFL, and it’s third-and-long and he has to make the right call, right? So for him to come out there and have a game like he had and play lights out like that, that just allows him to see what he can do in this league.”

Sunday became the second time in Patriots history that a pair of players each reached three sacks in a game, with Don Blackmon and Andre Tippett doing so versus the Green Bay Packers in 1985.

Uche’s came on third-and-9, third-and-6 and third-and-8. A pair of punts and a missed field goal followed heading into the bye.

“I mean, we definitely feed off each other’s energy,” Uche added. “And when you have a guy like Judon, everyone’s just getting in on the fun and we just feed off of it because now there’s blood in the water so now you know it’s time to hunt.”

To go with his sub-package sacks off the edges, the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Uche notched his 14th quarterback hurry of the fall. He’s since made the Pro Football Focus Team of the Week.

His rookie contract runs through 2023 with respective cap hits of $1.469 million and $1.714 million.

“He can be a premier pass-rusher,” said Judon. “I always tell him, he’s probably the best pass-rusher we got. I’m very happy for him. That’s my brother. I’m going to continue to speak him up and boast him, but that’s all him. He works his butt off just to get out on the field. When he’s out there and he has success like that, I’m just happy for him.”