It’s tough to miss him
Edelman makes presence felt
The Patriots offense survived without Julian Edelman last season. It produced well enough to get to the Super Bowl without Tom Brady’s favorite go-to receiver moving the chains and providing clutch plays.
But his presence was still missed. The team felt his void throughout the year. The receiver, nicknamed the “Squirrel,” was missed in ways that go beyond third-down conversions.
NFL NOTES Karen Guregian
Edelman, who suffered a torn ACL during a preseason game last August, was back on the field for Tuesday’s organized team activity session. And watching him go through some of the early drills with his teammates was an important, albeit brief reminder of what he brings to the table.
Between his competitiveness, and, as Patriots safety Duron Harmon put it after the workout, his “aggressive nature,” Edelman inspires the people around him. He makes his teammates better by how he plays.
Former Patriots running back and Hall of Fame member Kevin Faulk says what Edelman brings to a team is invaluable.
“He’s definitely in the category of one of the most competitive players I had as a teammate,” Faulk said when reached Thursday. “Man, he was fearless. It goes back to a young age when someone tells you that you can’t do something. He’s had that chip on his shoulder for a long time.”
Edelman, of course, isn’t alone in the chip department. Brady has long been motivated by people doubting his abilities, as he sat and waited until the sixth round of the NFL draft before being selected. Edelman, however, had to change positions to make it in the league, going from quarterback to receiver. He’s not big or particularly fast, but he’s quick, and he scrapes and scraps for every inch on the field.
Edelman can be annoying at times even during practices, showing that extra fight and feistiness trying to make a play. But it all works in a positive way toward that end result.
The edge he brings helps win games. It’s an edge that’s defined him and the Patriots.
Former Patriot Damien Woody, now an ESPN analyst, drew a common thread between Edelman and a couple of his teammates when reached Wednesday.
“Julian has that edge, Tom Brady has that edge, Gronk (Rob Gronkowski) has an edge,” Woody said, drawing a connection with the three pivotal players on the Patriots offense. “They compete at a high level, because they have that edge to them. But you see a little guy like Julian Edelman busting his tail and competing his tail off. That rubs off on everyone. He’s the type of guy who’s nasty to play against, that you’re glad you have on your team.”
Said Faulk: “You can say it, he brings a little nasty, a little attitude. That’s what coaches and teammates love about him.”
It’s an attitude and fight that helped bring the Patriots back to win their fifth championship ring, miraculously erasing a 25-point third-quarter deficit in Super Bowl LI to beat Atlanta.
In the grand scheme, his return to health will mean a lot to Brady and the offense for the 2018 season. It will also mean a lot to the team in an intangible sense.
“Having him out there brings leadership to this team, he brings excitement to this team and he brings an aggressive nature to this team,” said Harmon. “Having him out here makes the team better.’
It was encouraging to see Edelman, who celebrated his birthday (32) on Tuesday, run effortlessly and also make his cuts without any issue in the drills he participated in during the OTA session. He looked very much like himself, at one point, cutting back in to re-do a drill because he didn’t like the way he did it the first time.
With Brandin Cooks being traded to the Rams and Danny Amendola signing with the Dolphins in free agency, Edelman’s return to health is that much more vital to Brady and the offense. He’ll be relied upon even more in the slot to make plays and exploit seams, but his presence in general and what he provides is a significant boost for the team.
“He had the opportunity to be behind Wes Welker at the start. To me they’re very similar. Julian just has a little more grittiness about him,” said Faulk. “And it’s important to have players like that. Coaches want 50 players like Julian. You know you’re going to get a guy that’s going to step on the field and give you everything he has no matter what.”
Tiger tales
Faulk, who now serves as LSU’s director of player development, wasn’t surprised the Patriots took Danny Etling in the seventh round. Etling was the starting quarterback for the Tigers 2016-2017.
“Smart player. He did some good things at his pro day,” said Faulk. “The main thing, he’s a coachable kid.”
Assistant quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski worked quite a bit with Etling during Tuesday’s OTA session.
Faulk also said LSU alum Adrian Clayborn consulted him on Bill Belichick and all things Patriot before signing as a free agent.
“We’re a big family,” said Faulk. “He was just doing a little research, asking me about the program and Coach Belichick. He was trying to do the right thing.”
The Teddy show
Interesting development at Jets OTAs. While Sam Darnold had a nice rookie minicamp, and has already been annointed the secondcoming of Joe Namath, he hasn’t been the best quarterback on the field thus far.
If you’re thinking it’s Josh McCown, who the Jets spent considerable cash to bring back, he’s not the answer either. Word is, Teddy Bridgewater has been the best of the lot in the early going, and he was added at a bargain price by comparison. He was the best quarterback on the field during the first day of OTAs for the Jets.
“He looks really, really good, like, “Wow!’” Woody said. “Everyone’s been raving about Teddy Bridgewater.” The kid?
Woody said he’s heard Darnold looked like a “typical rookie” during the Jets minicamp. So who starts?
“Sam is only 20 years old. If he steps up in training camp, obviously, you play the rookie,” said Woody. “But if Teddy Bridgewater has a great camp and looks good in the preseason, that’s a great problem to have because you can ease Darnold into it. You also have Josh McCown in the quarterback room. He’s like another coach. It could work out great for the Jets at the end of the day.”
Basically, the Jets are hoping Darnold shows he can handle the job as the summer progresses so he’ll be the quarterback under center Week 1. But they’re not going to force it.
Johnny on the spot
Johnny Manziel, who signed with the Hamilton Tiger-cats of the Canadian Football League, had some interesting advice for Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield, the No. 1 pick in the draft.
Manziel, talking on the Dan Patrick Show Thursday, was speaking from lessons learned having messed up his opportunity as the Browns top pick.
“I feel like Baker’s in a better situation having a vet quarterback in there in Tyrod (Taylor),’’ said Manziel, who wasn’t able to hook back on with an NFL team in his comeback attempt. “There’s no pressure on him to come in and start Day 1 and I think he’s going into it and he’s going to learn from the vets.’’
Manziel knows firsthand the scrutiny Mayfield is going to be under. He offered some advice.
“Baker’s got the fire, Baker’s got the spark, and you know, I think he’ll do all right,’’ said Manziel. “But don’t let the pressure of everything else that goes on get to you. That would be my one advice: just go out and make football the main thing and go out and play like he’s done for the last five years.’’
Manziel said he should have made football his priority. He should have had his nose in the playbook until he fully understood it instead of making trips to Las Vegas as a rookie.
“This game’s hard and the people who are good at this game have put in countless, countless hours and that translates . ... The guys that go out and play at a high level, it’s because they’ve gone out and done what they’ve needed to do in the week before in the time that other people aren’t working like that.’’