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Julian Edelman has Broken Foot, May Return Late in Season

By Dan Schmelzer

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The New England Patriots were able to escape the Big Apple with a 27-26 victory over the New York Giants, but it did not come without a price. Star wide receiver Julian Edelman suffered a foot injury in the first quarter of this game, and he never returned.

Now, it is being reported that Edelman indeed broke his left foot, so clearly he will not be on the field for a while. When the news of the broken foot was first reported by Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports, he added the note of Edelman’s “season is in jeopardy. However, as this thing has played out a bit, it appears that the Patriots are optomistic that Edelman can return at some point this season.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Dianna Russini, and NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport are among those who are reporting at least serious hope that Edelman will return this season. Schefter also added in that he will undergo surgery to repair the broken bone on Monday.

It is incredibly difficult to predict when Edelman will come back, but I feel relatively optimistic that we have not seen the end of him this season. Regardless, losing him for any games is clearly a huge loss to the Patriots’ offense.

Edelman has become a massive weapon out of the slot for Tom Brady in the Patriots’ offense. He has incredible quickness and an innate ability to find the open space on the field. When Brady needs a play on third or fourth down, he has gone to Edelman with regularity in recent years.

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Prior to the injury, Edelman was having the best statistical season of his NFL career. Heading into Week 10, he led the Patriots (and is tied for seventh in the entire NFL) with 57 receptions on the season. His 639 receiving yards is the second most on the Patriots, and the 16th most in the entire league. Edelman had also brought in seven touchdown receptions from Brady on the year, which was tied for the team lead with Rob Gronkowski, and tied for second in the entire NFL.

Simply put, he had become one of the best wide receivers in the entire league, and losing him will undoubtedly hurt the Patriots’ offensive attack.

As the injuries continue to mount, it will be interesting to see how the Patriots look to replace Edelman’s production. Danny Amendola is a similar player who will likely fill a majority of Edelman’s role, but Amendola already had a nice role in the offense, that is only going to leave a hole where he was playing.

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Aaron Dobson and Keshawn Martin will likely step up and help produce, but I would also not be surprised to see the Patriots look for some outside help at receiver. Running backs James White and Brandon Bolden have some receiving skills that may come in handy, but they are hoping to replace the production left by the Dion Lewis injury.

The Patriots’ injury situation is scary, but hey, the team is 9-0. They have a lot of work to do to get this all together, but if any team can do it, it is the Patriots.

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