Some New England Patriots news and notes on this Tuesday:
– Former Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman appeared on the podcast “I Am Athlete” and discussed a variety of topics, which included Edelman recalling a recent visit to the team where he said Bill Belichick made it clear he wasn’t thrilled about seeing his former player constantly doing impressions of him. “I just saw him, recently,” said Edelman. “I went and I visited the team. He was like, ‘Look, If I have to turn on the F*&#n TV and see you doing me every F*&#n day. Like, what are we F*&#n doing here?'” Edelman said Belichick still makes him nervous. “I’m over here sitting on eggshells, I’m still scared of the guy. He’s still like the Emporer or something, you know what I mean? So I walk in, I’m all, ‘Hey coach, you know it’s all out of love’ and he goes, ‘Look, just shut the F*&k up.'”
– One of the big discussions following Edelman’s retirement was whether or not he should be considered for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, with the argument being that his regular-season totals outweigh all the amazing things he did in the playoffs. Edelman acknowledged as much when asked whether or not his place in history might see him someday end up in Canton. The former Patriots wideout said he believes he doesn’t have the resume to get in. “Number-wise, no,” said Edelman. “I mean, everyone talks about the regular season. I mean, I get it. Everyone talks about the regular-season, I didn’t have regular-season numbers, you know what I mean?”
– Edelman was also asked about whether or not he would consider coming back to make a run down in Tampa with his former teammate, Tom Brady. Edelman said that the commitment to get back to his previous level would be significant, and he didn’t sound like that was something he was willing to do. “Honestly Everyone here knows what it takes to play at a high level, especially in football,” said Edelman. “I don’t know how it is in basketball because I never played basketball, I can only speak for people that I know. Now, the amount of work I have to put into my body to train, to make me confident, like, that’s so much. For the output that I get now out of my body because of the injuries, my knees, this, that, I’m not getting the same output.”
– Edelman did go on to say that a year away from the game does have him feeling better and he has pondered coming back but he said he doesn’t have any immediate plans on doing so. “Now that I’ve taken a year off and I’m not loading my body, compounding loads every single day, my body feels pretty straight,” said Edelman. “I’ve gone and dabbled out, you go run routes … but then you see when you run routes the next day, like, ‘all right, I’m not too bad’ but I’m already like 10,000 reps behind I feel in my mind. So to answer your question, probably not. But I will probably start training a little more and more just to kind of put some data in my brain to see if I can do it.”
– He did go on to say that if he was to come back, it wouldn’t be unless he could do it at a high level. “I’m not going to put myself out there to look silly, get strapped up,” said Edelman. “I’m not going to go out there where I can get open on one play. I mean I want to go out and if I want to ball, I’m going to have to go out and consistently do it time and time again. I remember when I saw old guys, when I saw old corners…you know what I’m saying? When they used to strap you up, because they were the older guy, you were the young guy, they had the veteran moves and they were like, athletically peaking, and then you saw them tail off, I mean, there was blood in the water. I was going after them. I was going for their throat and I’ve gone after a lot of dudes so I know a lot of dudes are going to be coming after me.”
– Edelman was then asked if he’d want to come back and play for the Buccaneers, he said, “Who said I’d go to the Buccaneers?” said Edelman. “Maybe there’s a couple other teams…” After being pushed on that comment to talk about what teams he’d want to play for, he eventually admitted New England would be where he’d want to be. “I mean, honestly if I was ever to come back, I would want to come back as a Pat, probably, be part of that,” said Edelman. “It’s a little bit of everything. I got my opportunity there. I’ve got a life there. That’s my home now. I mean, my whole adult life, I’ve been in Boston. I know Boston better than I know San Francisco. I know the Cape better than I know Lake Tahoe, and that’s where I grew up.”
– One of the hosts then pointed out that Edelman wouldn’t have a chance to win there, which Edelman disagreed with. “You never know. I mean, last year is a prime example,” said Edelman. “You’ve got the Cincinnati Bengals, which were the trash of the National Football League two years before, they go out and they make it to a Super Bowl in two years. Now, the parity of this league is going back and forth all the time. But the one guy you can always bet on is Bill Belichick, he’s going to have a fundamentally sound football team and you never know. If you get into the tournament with a fundamentally sound football team that doesn’t make mistakes, that goes against an explosive team that has crazy athletes everywhere that f*&s up, and makes turnovers, jumps offsides, has illegal formations, all these little things, those teams lose, I’ve been a part of it. So you never know.”
– As for Mac Jones, Edelman believes if the second-year QB keeps doing the right things, he’s got a bright future. “If he strengthens up, and he uses last year for the starting point, and he doesn’t smell his own roses, and he goes out and he gets better this year – because we ultimately see our biggest leaps from that year one to year two for that quarterback – I think he could be a good quarterback,” said Edelman. “He’s not there quite yet but I mean, you’ve got to look at the Patriots back in 2001 to 2004, those first three Super Bowls, I mean, they weren’t tossing the ball out the stadium, it was a defensive-built team. That’s the thing that I’m worried about with the Patriots, is their defense going to be there to allow Mac to have this slow progression into becoming what he becomes?”
– Edelman was later asked if he’d want to coach, “No, too many hours bro,” he said. “You think players have hours, these coaches…I’ve seen cots in offices. These dudes are sleeping in there. I cannot be a coach. There’s too much preparation in football. There’s too much on every single game. And they can’t sleep.”
– Meanwhile, one of the biggest stories has stemmed from comments by former Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett, who didn’t have kind words about former QB Jimmy Garoppolo. “We lost two games,” said Bennett via Boston.com on an interview with Double Coverage with The McCourty Twins. “One of them was because Jimmy Garoppolo was being a b*&$#. He decided not to play right before the game. Jacoby [Brissett] came out and played with a f*&#ed up thumb and played his heart out, but Jimmy was just being a b*&$# about it all.” Bennett added that his biggest issue was the fact that Garoppolo reportedly made the decision at the last minute. “That was the whole thing with him: He didn’t want to come out and do anything because his agent was trying to protect his body or some s— like that,” said Bennett. “Which, I can’t fault him for that. But like, you should have made that decision on Thursday. Now it’s Sunday.”
– When asked about Bennett’s comments, Edelman said he wasn’t happy about the situation either. “I mean, I don’t know, we’re all football players here,” said Edelman. “But Jacoby, he tore ligaments in his thumb in the win against [the Texans in Week 3]. So we go into Week 4 and I guess Jimmy was practicing and then decided not to play. Jacoby played with no ligaments in his thumb, which you can’t do that as a quarterback. You can’t grip [the football].”
– Edelman said Garoppolo’s decision frustrated him because of the fact he’s played through a lot and seeing Garoppolo not tough it out was something that angered him. “A lot of guys got mad at it. I’m not going to lie, I got mad about it,” said Edelman. “I sacrificed my body all day long. I was taking shots for this, numbing up that, ribs, broken ribs, shoulders, Grade 3 hanging on by limbs just to play. I can understand why Marty thinks like that.”
– One final note is the fact the Patriots saw the loss of one of their former players, with former quarterback Marlin Briscoe passing away at the age of 76. He reportedly passed away from complications from pneumonia. Briscoe was with New England for just one season, but it included a touchdown reception from Patriots legend, Steve Grogan during his lone season with the club.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
