TUCSON, Ariz. -- When asked for his favorite pass-rush move after Wednesday's practice, Josh Uche's answer was fitting.
"The one where I'm not thinking," he said, "when I'm just going."
Uche is the hottest rusher in the NFL right now. He's unconscious, like a jump-shooter who can't miss, in the kind of flow state that athletes everywhere thirst for.
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With three sacks and a quarterback hit that led to an interception against the Cardinals on Monday Night Football, Uche earned the AFC's Defensive Player of the Week honor and showed the country why he was one of the most promising front-seven defenders in the 2020 draft, when the Patriots made him a second-round pick.
"I told y’all I wasn't the best pass-rusher," Matthew Judon said after the game. "Our best pass-rusher is emerging. People are going to have to block him. and if they don’t, and if they chip my side and they worry about me, Uche will do that every week. I just love the way he’s playing with confidence and poise.
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"And it’s the most he’s been able to play since he’s been in the NFL. So it’s taken a toll on him, but he’s going out there and having a lot of success. We all knew it. We all knew what type of player he was. He was drafted pretty high here and now he’s emerging, and folks are going to have to watch out."
If opponents aren't already game-planning for the third-year player out of Michigan, they haven't been paying attention. He's now up to 10.0 sacks on the season, making him and Judon (14.5 sacks) the first pair of teammates in the league this season to have double-digit sacks. (It's the first time the Patriots have had two players with double-digit sacks since Andre Carter and Mark Anderson back in 2011, and it's just the fourth time in team history that's happened.)
Judon should garner Defensive Player of the Year consideration based on how he's played this season, but it's Uche who is on the more staggering tear at the moment. In the last seven weeks, no one has more sacks than Uche (10). Among players with at least 100 passing-down snaps under their belts in that span, according to Pro Football Focus, he's first in pass-rush productivity, first in pass-rush win rate and second in pass-rush grade (behind only Cleveland's Myles Garrett).
Uche's ability to stay on the field long enough to be recognized as one of the most efficient rushers in football has been key. He played in only 21 of 33 possible regular-season games through his first two seasons, but this year he's only missed two games due to a hamstring issue.
"The biggest thing with Josh is just him being out there," Bill Belichick said this week. "He's always put good plays on film and good plays on the practice field, and he's flashed. This year he's been able to stay out there on a consistent basis, and that's allowed him to continue to move ahead and build on his repertoire, build his communication and execution with his teammates on pass-rush games and communication on drops, coverage adjustments, and things like that, which he's involved in to a degree.
"Just doing that on a consistent basis, day after day, week after week. That definitely piles up and makes him that split-second faster. Whether it's your reactions, communication, anticipation. I think those have really been the biggest things. He's been out there since the start of the offseason program, at training camp, and all the weeks in the regular season. That wasn't really the case the last two years. I think that's been a big thing. He's always worked hard, and always done everything you've asked him to do. He's been great to coach, but I think just his availability this year has affected his production."Uche would tend to agree, he told The Next Pats Podcast.
"At Michigan," Uche said, "Coach [Jim] Harbaugh always emphasized, you only get good at what you do repetitively. Being out there on the practice field, we practice hard. You treat every practice like a game, and that's kind of what happens. You're working hard every single snap. Coach [Belichick] is right. It's a result of just being out there consistently and brick by brick, day by day, laying the foundation down."
Uche lifts weights after games like Judon. He makes regular use of the cold tub like Devin McCourty and Matthew Slater. He credits trainer Jared Lewis, who arrived to the Patriots in 2020 around the same time Uche did, with helping keep him right mentally and physically as he's fought through injury. Pass-rush coach Joe Kim and defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington have also been vital to Uche's development, he said.
He's also into pilates, which he insists has helped him stay on the field.
"Pilates is great," he said. "It was created by a boxer so it helps with different movements, core stability and mobility as well. Trying to implement that into my game and make things more fluid and prevent injuries."
Put it all together, and Uche has found a formula that has everyone taking notice of his skill set.
Against the Cardinals alone, he bothered quarterback Colt McCoy with a speed-to-power move that resulted in a sack. He also used a hesitation move for a sack and then put a different spin on the same stop-and-go move to notch the hit that led to rookie Marcus Jones' interception.
With Judon and Uche leading the charge, the Patriots are second in the NFL in pressure percentage, helping to propel a defense that has largely outperformed expectations this year.
Uche will have a shot at more highlight-reel plays on Sunday in Las Vegas as he goes up against a quarterback in Derek Carr who is 27th in the NFL in pressure rate (35.3 percent).
If he can stay healthy, quiet his mind, and just... go... as he's shown, results should follow.