Patriots: Julian Edelman’s latest comments don’t have us feeling good about 2021
The Patriots and Julian Edelman are at a crossroads.
If Patriots fans were to look at the 2020 season as a whole and come away with what they felt the most uneasy about, we’d venture to guess it’d be Julian Edelman‘s future in New England.
The soon-to-be 35-year-old appeared in just six games, and despite a career performance in Week 2, many would argue the other five games were among the worst of Edelman’s career. Take out that 179-yard performance against the Seahawks and the veteran recorded just 13 catches for 136 yards. We know the offensive changes were a big reason for that, but that wasn’t all.
Edelman looked slow. He lacked physicality. He couldn’t get separation. He had a weak 53.8% catch rate. Hell. he played in only 26% of the offensive snaps when he was on the field! We later learned that was due to a knee injury for which he needed surgery, but we still aren’t feeling optimistic about his future, especially after his latest comments.
Julian Edelman on @PardonMyTake asked about how his knee is feeling: “I am getting there, man. It was a rough year when it came to my physicality and how I felt."
— Ryan Hannable (@RyanHannable) January 22, 2021
Edelman was jokingly asked to “reconsider his retirement from football” by one of the hosts on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” and here’s what he had to say:
"“You guys are nuts. What are you talking about? Right now we’re being a dad right now and we’re sitting back and training, getting our body right for the next year. It’s a time to get away from football right now. It was a long, crazy year.“I don’t know. We’re not there yet. “This whole year was so jacked up, man. It was so long. I just need to decompress for a little bit. I am out in L.A. right now and taking my kid to school and picking her up, and doing those kind of things that you don’t get to do during the season. I am enjoying that right now, so I don’t necessarily know what you guys are talking about.”"
Then, when asked about his knee, he replied, “I’m getting there,” which couldn’t be more worrisome for Patriots fans because, if you remember correctly, there were multiple times in the final month or so of the season that he was expected to return and never did.
Now, we’re in the offseason and he’s apparently still not 100%.
Julian Edelman mostly deflected when asked about retirement on @PardonMyTake, but the Patriots receiver did say he's getting his body right for next year.https://t.co/Yf4D4P79Bn
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) January 22, 2021
Hey, at least he nailed the Bernie Sanders meme, right?
At this point, it’s irresponsible to make assumptions, but fans are allowed to feel some sort of way, especially after this commentary from the Patriots legend. His performance in 2020 and subsequent injury news had many questioning his ability to play any longer, and his words didn’t offer any reason to dispel that notion.
We’re just not sure we can handle another monumental loss for a second straight offseason.
