New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman is without the player he has often called a big brother: Tom Brady.
Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency this offseason. Tight end Rob Gronkowski elected to unretire and force a trade to Tampa. And perhaps that didn’t sit well with Edelman, who unfollowed Brady briefly on Instagram after the Gronk trade.
Whether there are hard feelings or not, Edelman will bring the Patriots into a new era of football in 2020 — without Brady or Gronk.
“Obviously, it was a little different scenario. You’ve got to move on and understand this is a business and wish him well,” Edelman told reporters Monday on a videoconference call. “We played a lot of ball together. I love him to death. But the train keeps moving.”
Edelman is on to Cam Newton, Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer. Those three players will compete for a takeover of Brady’s old job. Edelman spent the offseason logging workouts with all three quarterbacks with hopes of building some rapport in an offseason, which has been upended by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Edelman spoke to his mindset on working with these three signal-callers.
“That takes time and takes reps and that takes experience, and right now, we’re really focused on getting conditioned and brushing up our minds on the material our coaches are giving us,” Edelman said.
He will be the top receiver on New England’s depth chart, with Mohamed Sanu likely serving as the second receiver after a tough first season with the Patriots. Second-year receivers N’Keal Harry, Jakobi Meyers and Gunner Olszewski will be jockeying for playing time alongside newcomers Damiere Byrd, a free agent signing, and Jeff Thomas, a talented rookie.
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