New England Patriots
Edelman is also noticing strong progress with Drake Maye and the Patriots’ offense.
The Patriots certainly aren’t playing at the level they played for much of Julian Edelman’s career. But the franchise icon thinks that’s OK, at least for now.
Ahead of his induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame on Saturday, Edelman stressed that fans should be patient through the team’s rebuild.
“[My] impressions are, they definitely looked like they improved from Week 1 to Week 2,” Edelman told reporters on Friday, (via MassLive’s Karen Guregian). “I think it’s going to be a long process. Rome wasn’t built overnight.”
In a follow-up, Edelman was asked if he thought his former team was on track to make he postseason in 2025.
“I don’t know,” Edelman replied. “But I don’t think it’s a bad year if they don’t.”
Entering the year, the Patriots were a popular pick by a good number of analysts to be a surprise team and make the postseason. In fact, their implied betting odds suggested that they had a near 50/50 chance of making the playoffs, while most oddsmakers set their win total at 8.5.
Week 1 wasn’t a good showing from the Patriots, losing 20-13 at home to the Raiders. Of course, the season isn’t determined in Week 1, and the Patriots got back on track in Week 2, defeating the Dolphins 33-27 in Miami.
Drake Maye was arguably the biggest reason for the swing in the Patriots’ offensive performances from Week 1 to Week 2. Edelman noted that as he likes the direction the quarterback and the offense are heading in.
“It’s very tough to win in this game. I’m excited with where the offense is going,” Edelman said. “You look at their numbers last week, compared with the week before and I think they were 7-for-13 or 12 on third down, 3 of 4 in the red area. So those are the key things I like to look at to see if a team is improving, at least offensively.”
Maye had more total yards in Week 1 against the Raiders, throwing for 287 yards. But he was erratic at times, throwing an interception at a bad time early in the second half of that game and New England converted just 4 of 14 third-down attempts.
In Week 2, Maye was more efficient and better on crucial downs, like Edelman said. In addition to helping the Patriots convert on 7 of 12 third-down attempts, Maye completed 19 of 23 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns to go with 31 rushing yards and a rushing score.
So, while Maye might not be playing at the level of the quarterback Edelman caught passes from for most of his career, it’s certainly good progress for the Year 2 quarterback.
The current iteration of the Patriots also showed some love toward Edelman ahead of his big day on Saturday.
“Just a pure competitor, just a pure warrior out on the field, just toughness, great play demeanor and really willing to do anything to help the football team,” Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters of Edelman on Friday. “So, excited for him this weekend, his family and his journey. We talk about everybody’s journey to the NFL and it looks a little different for everybody, but very worthy to be in the Hall of Fame here.”
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