If you’re a frequent visitor to the Patriots’ roster page on their website, you may have noticed a change among their linebackers.
Joshua Uche, one of New England’s two 2020 second-round picks, will now go by his full first name.
“It’s the name my father gave me,” the linebacker explained of the switch. “…I’m just trying to make my dad proud.”
Uche on deciding to go by his full name, Joshua, from now on:
“It’s the name my father gave me… I'm just trying to make my dad proud.” pic.twitter.com/bV8xt06ncM
— Mike Kadlick (@mikekadlick) April 30, 2024
Uche’s father, an architect/engineer in the Miami, Florida area who he’s been working with on the side this offseason, has had a large impact on his son not only now, but throughout his entire life.
“Growing up, after church… [we’d] go get some food and then [we’d] go home and watch the games together,” he said on Tuesday. “And that’s kind of where I got into the game of football.”
He continued: “He’s one of the biggest disciplinarians other than Bill Belichick… and he’s the reason I’m standing here today.”
Uche re-signed with the Patriots this past offseason on a one-year $3 million deal, with incentives that can take it up to $8 million. According to reports, he had “much more” on the table elsewhere — but preferred to stay in New England.
“There were some options on the table,” said Uche of testing the market this winter, “But in my heart I felt I was destined to be a Patriot and despite what was offered I felt like this was my calling… I felt like this was what I was destined to do and this is where I wanna be.”
Uche put together a career season in 2022, tallying career highs in sacks (11.5), tackles for loss (27), and forced fumbles (2). His play in 2023, however, fell off a bit — something he contributed to an age-old Bill Belichick mantra:
“2023 I was doing my job. Sometimes the sacks will be there, sometimes they won’t. Sometimes you get some pressures, some disruptions to throw off the timing and stuff like that. Sometimes, you know, you hit those home runs each time. Sometimes it connects. But I was just doing my job the best that I could, to the best of my ability. Sometimes you hit those home runs and you feel great, sometimes it don’t. But you gotta do your job and allow your teammates to step up and also do their job and fulfill their roles as well. So you know, I have my different roles that the team asks me to do. That’s all I can do at the end of the day.”
Ready to rock for 2024, Uche is confident that he’ll be able to better play to his strengths under now-defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington.
Follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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