Judon asks Baker to bring personality to Foxborough

“You have a lot of potential,” Judon said. “We know you can talk. We know you’ll make us laugh. We know you can do it in front of the media. We saw you do it in college. We want you to transfer it.

“Don’t do this for the public and the media and then come here with your backpack and your head down,” Judon added. “What is it, man?” You just told people in wheelchairs to get up. Come on man. Either way, because if you can’t be comfortable in your job, it’s going to become embarrassing and you’re going to stop loving the game.”

The quote Judon is referring to came from Baker during his first conference call as a member of the Patriots when he explained what fans should expect from him.

“Just come to the stadium and bring your popcorn,” Baker told reporters via video conference Saturday. “As I like to tell you all. Bring your own popcorn. I get people in wheelchairs up. Bring your own popcorn.

Baker continued to exude confidence throughout the call, saying he, second-round pick Ja’Lynn Polk and Drake Maye “single-handedly bring back the winning mentality that everyone loves in Boston.”

As Baker has previously posted clips of himself practicing with his new Patriots teammates on social media, he made another statement in an Instagram post on Thursday.

“No way in (exhaustive) America, 10 receivers are better than me. You’re out of your (expletive) mind,” Baker said in an Instagram video.

“But you’re not going to surpass me,” Baker added. ” I tell you. I don’t care (expletive) how hard I breathe, I’m going to go back.

Baker certainly has reason to have confidence in him based on his production in his final season at UCF. He has 52 receptions for 1,139 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023, with his 21.9 yards per reception leading all FBS receivers who have at least 30 receptions.

The Patriots’ selection of Baker was just one part of an offensive-heavy draft class. New England used its first five picks on offensive players and seven of its eight overall selections on offensive players, including adding Maye, Polk, offensive tackle Caedan Wallace and guard Layden Robinson.

Judon said he thought the Patriots “drafted well” because those players helped “at the positions we needed.” He also expects a quarterback competition between Maye, Jacoby Brissett and whoever is in the Patriots quarterback room later this summer.

“I think it’s going to be a battle and (Jerod) Mayo is going to do it well,” Judon said. “He will let the best player play. We don’t care where you were recruited, how much money you get, or who gets paid the most. If you can play, you can play. It is what it is.

“We wanted to see more production from our receiver group,” Judon continued of the Patriots draft. “I think we have a good group of wide receivers in there, but I think they wanted to see more production and they went and got some wide receivers. And then, some offensive linemen. Our quarterback was hit a lot. We want to be able to move the ball more, so they brought in some offensive linemen.