Friday night in Detroit the New England Patriots faced off against the Lions, the third preseason game for the Patriots. The starters took the field in the first quarter and completely burned the Detroit defense. But the excitement of watching the points pile up ended abruptly in the worst possible way.
Julian Edelman. Down on the field. Not springing up and running into the huddle. Out came the injury cart. And down dropped the hearts, if not hopes, of Patriot Nation. On the following day, the worst fears revealed on an MRI. A torn ACL, ending the 2017 regular season for one of the Pats most reliable and revered players — Julian Edelman.
Unnecessary Roughness?
Should the starters even play in a game that doesn’t count? In my opinion, no. Why expose any starter to injury when it means nothing in the standings? Either cover those players in bubble wrap or have them play a series, maybe two, then get them out of there.
The loss of Julian on offense hurts. No doubt about that. While the Pats still have Cooks, Hogan, Amendola, Gronk, and Allen, Edelman is Brady’s go-to guy. Without that amazing catch in Super Bowl LI, who knows what would have happened. Julian is something special. He has earned his spot in the organization and his place as one of the best receivers in the NFL.
Julian started talking about his recovery right after the game, even though most feared the ACL diagnosis. But If anyone knows how to make adjustments to put the team in the best position possible to win football games, it’s Bill Belichick.
Belichick has a conference call today at 4 and most likely won’t comment on his injury as he only talks about players on the field. Pats fans look at it this way, Gronk was out last year and they still won the Super Bowl. This year Edelman is out. They still will win the AFC East, and have their place in the AFC Championship game atleast. Most importantly will be playing in the Super Bowl once again. So don’t say the season is over because Edelman is out you still have Tom Brady, other targets on offense, and a pretty good defense.