NFL notebook: Patriots’ Edelman tears ACL in right knee, will miss season
FOXBOROUGH, MASS.— New England Patriots star wide receiver Julian Edelman will miss the 2017 season after tearing the ACL in his right knee in a pre-season game.
The Patriots announced Saturday that Edelman, Tom Brady’s favourite target and one of the NFL’s most clutch receivers, would be sidelined all season after the non-contact injury in the first quarter of Friday night’s pre-season game at Detroit.
The 31-year-old Edelman headed downfield after a catch and when he planted his right foot into the turf, he tore the ligament.
“Julian is a great competitor, works hard, is tough, does all of the things that you ask him to do. I feel badly for him, of course,” coach Bill Belichick said Saturday.
“We feel badly for Julian and hope that he will have a speedy and complete recovery. But yeah, the team will have to move on and we’ll have to compete in this season without him.”
Edelman, whose spectacular fourth-quarter reception helped the Patriots’ record comeback win in the Super Bowl in February, signed a two-year contract extension earlier
this year. He has been, by far, Brady’s top pass catcher with 436 receptions over the past four seasons, including the playoffs.
BORTLES BACK AT NO. 1: The Jacksonville Jaguars are sticking with Blake Bortles — because of his legs.
Coach Doug Marrone selected Bortles as his starting quarterback for the season opener Saturday, a surprising turnabout that said more about the team’s offensive line than its signal callers.
Marrone’s decision came a little more than a week after he opened up the job and pleaded with Bortles and veteran Chad Henne to “go out there and take it.”
Going back to Bortles was a clear indictment of the team’s shaky offensive line, which has been underwhelming in three pre-season games.
BILLS LOSE TAYLOR: Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor was removed from Saturday night’s game against the Baltimore Ravens with a concussion. The injury occurred Saturday night at the end of the Bills’ second possession of the game. On a third-down play, Taylor was sacked by linebacker Matthew Judon and landed hard on the turf.