Julian Edelman Named AFC Offensive Player of the Week
Bob DeChiara - USA TODAY Sports
On Wednesday, the New England Patriots announced that wide receiver Julian Edelman has been named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week following the teams 35-14 victory over the Miami Dolphins. The honor marks the first time in Edelman’s career he has earned a weekly award.
Edelman caught eight passes for a career high 151 yards against the Dolphins. It was his second 100-yard receiving game of the season and the 11th of his career (nine regular season, two postseason). In the third quarter Sunday, Edelman scored on a 77-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady, a career long. His previous best was a 69-yard touchdown at San Diego back on December 7th, 2014.
1⃣1⃣ goes 7⃣7⃣ yards. ‼, @edelman11! https://t.co/10bS0wLwgD
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 1, 2017
Entering the game versus Miami, Edelman needed just 45 yards to gain 1,000 for the season. He finished 2016 with a career high 1,106 and joins Wes Welker (5), Rob Gronkowski (3), Randy Moss (3), Stanley Morgan (3), and Terry Glenn (2) as the only Patriots with at least two 1,000-yard seasons per the Patriots press release.
Edelman’s selection marks the ninth time a Patriots player has earned an NFL honor in 2016.
Quarterback Tom Brady was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week following his Week 5 return at the Cleveland Browns along with Week 11 at the San Francisco 49ers. He was also named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for October.
Other Patriots to earn honors in 2016 included punter Ryan Allen as AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 3 versus the Houston Texans, LeGarrette Blount was named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for September, kicker Stephen Gostkowski was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week following Week 1 versus the Arizona Cardinals and Week 13 versus the Los Angeles Rams . Lastly, linebacker Dont’a Hightower earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6.
A career day for @edelman11 earns him his first career AFC Offensive Player of the Week award: https://t.co/ATyFzNznLK pic.twitter.com/Pr1kjwT6MI
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 4, 2017
Posted Under: Patriots News
Tags: Dont'a Hightower Julian Edelman LeGarrette Blount Randy Moss Rob Gronkowski Ryan Allen Stanley Morgan Stephen Gostkowski Terry Glenn Tom Brady Wes Welker
