Julian Edelman Fought Through Injuries That Would've Killed a Lesser Man
The other day I was on with The Cousins on Barstool Radio and we were doing a bit of a crash scene investigation on the Patriots season. Measuring tire marks, trying to estimate the speed of the vehicles, figuring out that balance between mechanical failure and operator error. That kind of thing.
And one thing we agreed on that was Julian Edelman's play had dropped off over the course of the season, but without doubt he was banged up. I believe the phrase I used - because I'm not afraid to beat a car metaphor to death I guess - is that "there are a lot of city miles on his engine." Which was no secret given he was listed as Questionable with various thing as the season went on. But with this report from Jeff Howe, we're only just now realizing how truly banged up he was.
A separated AC joint in his shoulder. And unspecified knee issue. And ribs. What the hell. I guess a 5-11 slot receiver who lives in the middle of the defense and drew double teams all year doesn't need those things.
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It's hardly ever possible to say exactly when a guy's intitial injury happened, the gateway one that leads to all the rest. But in Edelman's case, a fairly solid guess would be Week 3 against the Jets:
That I think was the first wave in what turned out to be an injury tsunami. So he basically played through issues that probably should have put him in a surgical room for the next 15 weeks, with only the bye week to rest.
And how many snaps did he miss altogether because of them? None, really. Here are the numbers:
Total offensive snaps:
Patriots: 1095. NFL Rank: 3rd
Julian Edelman: 1058. NFL Rank: 1st among all WRs
Percentage of team's snap: 96.6%
When you only sit out 3.3% of your team's plays from scrimmage playing through that much pain, finish fifth in the leeague in receptions and set a career high in receiving yards (1117), while taking the kind of punishment he does on ever down, that's Gladiator/Braveheart-level toughness. Hell, there are receivers in the league right now who'll miss three weeks just reading that list. It's the kind of thing that wins guys Comeback Player of the Year, except Edelman has nothing to come back from since he never sat out.
Unfortunately he didn't get to go on a playoff run and catch Jerry Rice for most career postseason reception all time. But in a just world, what he did this season would help his Hall of Fame resume. In the strictly athletic sense of the word, what he did was nothing short of heroic.