Matthew Judon and the New England Patriots are in a public contract dispute, and things only got uglier on Wednesday. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that the team made an offer to the star linebacker after he missed practice on Tuesday.

According to Judon, though, that’s not the case.

“No they haven’t but it makes me look bad again,” Judon posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “Don’t believe the lies.”

Not long after Judon — whose 2023 season ended prematurely due to a torn biceps injury — refuted Russini’s report, the longtime reporter shared another update, reporting that the Patriots have “offered a few revised contracts” to Judon before training camp.

Judon is entering the final year of his four-year deal he signed with New England in 2021. The 32-year-old was present during Monday’s padded practice, but not in pads. He had “animated” discussions with Coach Jerod Mayo as well as executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and director of player personnel Matt Groh. It’s unclear what the context of the conversations were.

MassLive’s Karen Guregian, who was present at Gillette Stadium when these talks were happening, said Judon spoke with Mayo for about 15 minutes. While speaking with Groh and Wolf, “Judon waved his arms, and did a lot of gesturing with his hands as he spoke with Wolf and Groh, who handle contracts. This went on during team periods.”

Judon has not been shy about wanting a reworked contract and even admitted recently that it was tough to see so many of his teammates get rewarded with extensions.

“You kind of look at everybody around the league, in the building (and) you see them getting deals done and worked out,” he said earlier this month. “It’s tough to not be jealous or envious. Honestly, I’ve got to focus on myself. I’m happy for those guys. As much as everybody wants to see me stay around here for a long time, it’s really not up to me, bro.”

During a recent appearance on the “Shut Up Marc” podcast, Judon revealed that he wrote his own contract and sent it to the Patriots, but they never responded. He also again expressed his frustration with not getting a deal done.

“I love football. I don’t love the business of football,” Judon said. “Like I said, I don’t want to be the villain. I don’t want to be the bad guy. But it’s like, shoot bro, help me out. We got the most cap in the league right now bro. And then with that, they don’t even get the money. So what the hell are y’all doing with it? … Those guys have a tough decision. It’s hard for them. It’s hard to know who to give the money to … where, how much. There’s a lot of stuff that goes along with that.”

The Patriots were off Wednesday and return to practice Thursday. It’s unclear if Judon will be in attendance.

THE PATRIOTS continued the trend of locking up their players ahead of the 2024 NFL season when they agreed to a two-year extension with star defensive tackle Davon Godchaux.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter was first to report the news, and added the contract is worth up $21 million and has $16.5 million in guaranteed money.

Godchaux was entering the final year of his deal and didn’t participate in Patriots minicamp in June, though he was present and has been a full participant in July’s training camp.

The 29-year-old made it clear in a social media post last month that he wanted to remain in New England, and was hopeful to get his contract reworked before the start of the season.

“Hopefully we can get something done that’s fair to me and my team before camp starts!,” he posted. “I love NE, I would love to retire here but it’s has to make sense for us! What I do on the football field in the trenches most of time doesn’t show on the stat sheet but turn on the film you will see it if “U know” ball! Would love to finish my career here in NE but it has to make sense to me and my team!”

Godchaux spoke openly about his frustrations regarding his contract last week, noting it was “frustrating playing out here without any guaranteed money.”

“At the end of the day, I’m playing on no guarantees,” Godchaux said. “I want some stability… I just want some respect.”

Godchaux now joins Jabrill Peppers, Christian Barmore, Rhamondre Stevenson, David Andrews, Jahlani Tavai and Kyle Dugger as players who received extensions this offseason.

THE ONLY certainty of this 2024 Patriots offense is who the leading rusher will be (health permitting).

Entering his fourth season and off a new contract extension, Rhamondre Stevenson looks the part of a franchise running back. The 26-year-old says he’s in great shape, but also excited for the offense’s future.

A big reason for that revolves around new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, who is implanting an outside zone scheme for the Patriots’ running backs.

Stevenson noted that Van Pelt’s scheme is the same one he ran in college at Oklahoma and one he feels will help him this season.

“Yeah, it could benefit any running back. It’s my favorite scheme, to be honest with you,” Stevenson said. “Outside zones, that’s what I like and that’s what we’re running. Everybody else in our room seems to like it as well. We’ll see what we can do.”

The Patriots’ plan of attack on offense seems simple – hammer the run and use play action (or bootlegs) to get the defense playing run and then make them pay.

Stevenson seems like he’ll be the focal point of the Patriots’ offense this year – and that makes sense considering he also looks like the most talented offensive player (other than offensive lineman Michael Onwenu) on the roster.

In 2022, Stevenson showed his potential, running for 1,040 yards to go with 69 receptions and 421 receiving yards. Last year, he dealt with a few injuries before being shut down with an ankle injury after 12 games.