Julian Edelman is easily the toughest motherfucker in the NFL. It’s why no one is really giving him a hard time for that colossal drop at the end of the Wild Card game against the Titans.
It was clear watching him the second half of the season that he could barely move. Couldn’t stretch his arms far enough to make the catches he normally makes and watching him get speared on every play brought me back to watching Gronk for the last 5 seasons. Every hit I winced and feared death–but that squirrely motherfucker always gets that nut. He played every single game this season, finished with exactly 100 receptions (5th most in the NFL), 1,117 yards and 6 TDs. The Eagles would have no idea what to do with a guy as durable as Julian Edelman.
Everyone could tell Edelman was near death putting his body on the line to try and help the Patriots win their 7th Superbowl but of course there was no way we’d find out until the season was over.
Today, Jeff Howe of The Athletic reported that Edelman was dealing with a separated AC joint in his shoulder, a still undisclosed knee injury AND “a rib injury described as serious enough that they would have ended some other players’ seasons”.
“Offseason surgery hasn’t been ruled out,” Howe added.
You can read the full report here and let me know what it actually says because I wouldn’t pay a cent for a subscription to The Athletic.
At 33 years old even with these injuries and 2 years removed from a torn ACL there isn’t a shadow of a doubt in my mind that Edelman will be back to himself when August rolls around.
With all this talk about Tom Brady leaving the Patriots, Edelman is an extremely underrated important part of this equation. Say what you want about Bill and Tom wanting to prove they can win without each other; trying to separate Tom and Jules would be emotional torture. A breakup far sadder than Brad and Jen or Britney and Justin, the thought of Julian Edelman going through life without Tom Brady under an hour away makes my heart smash into a million tiny pieces. I can only imagine what it does to either of them. LA? That’s the furthest possible distance. Not even the same fucking time zone. Just glad it wasn’t a head injury so he can focus on his Powerpoint presentation to get Tom to stay.
As long as these two are breathing I will not count this team out pic.twitter.com/Zsho6eZzUn
— BadGalAli (@aliweitz) December 22, 2019