FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – In the New England Patriots' three organized team activities and two mandatory minicamp practices made available to the media, the defense has mostly gotten the upper hand against the offense. That was the case on Tuesday with the defense recording a pair of interceptions against Mac Jones.

Some of the defense's success can be credited to the amount of versatility they have, which has allowed them to throw several different looks already in practice. Jones remarked Monday on the challenge all of the looks the Patriots defense has shown can confuse opposing offenses, crediting linebackers coach Steve Belichick for being creative with his play calls so far in practice.

Following Tuesday's practice, Pro Bowl edge rusher Matthew Judon was asked if it was unusual for the Patriots to already be throwing so many different looks on defense. He doesn't think it's unusual for one key reason:

“With our coaches and with the players that we have, it’s not unusual [where the defense is at right now],” Judon said. “We have unicorns, for real.

“We have a guy like [Kyle] Dugger that can play on the line of scrimmage, at linebacker; he can play at corner but he’s a safety. And then we drafted [Keion White] who can play from nose to middle linebacker. We have big, rangy corners, too. Corners like Marcus Jones, he played three, four positions each different unit; offense, defense, and special teams. With that, it’s not unusual.

“You gotta get those players on the field, right? And so you find our coaches do a great job of finding any way to get those players in different packages on the field and put them in situations where they can compete and they can win. And that's what they're doing.”

Part of the reason why the Patriots' defense might look even better this season is who they added in the draft. They selected highly-regarded corner Christian Gonzalez in the first round. White, an edge, was viewed by many draft experts as one of the best selections in the second round.

But the player who might be the most intriguing among all of the players is Marte Mapu. The third-round pick out of Sacramento State played linebacker and safety in college. He's played in both spots so far in the offseason practices, excelling at points with his physicality and athleticism.

As many of us have been impressed by the rookies' performance so far in practice, Judon has also been impressed by them, too.

“They're looking fast. They're looking like they’ve been here before,” Judon said. “They’re looking comfortable, I think. Being comfortable, you can play like yourself and you can play within the scheme. You can make plays when you’re comfortable.”

Like Jones, Judon credited the coaches for getting the rookies on the field. More importantly, he also heaped praise on the coaches for putting players in a spot to succeed, believing that they have the talent to go up against any offense.

“It's not unusual for that to happen, but it’s unusual for us to have these type of players like that,” Judon continued on the Patriots' defensive versatility. “If we can keep everybody here, keep everybody healthy — it’s training camp, we have a lot of players — but when we cut everything down, keep everybody healthy, keep everybody rolling, it’s going to be easy for us to match up with any offensive personnel.”