The New England Patriots should forfeit their last preseason game
By Ben Porter
In the New England Patriots third preseason game, WR Julian Edelman was carted into the locker room with a non-contact knee injury.
The New England Patriots need to forfeit their fourth preseason game. That is not hyperbole, and don’t you dare tell me I’m overreacting.
As I write this, Tom Brady is picking apart the Detroit Lions defense. So far, he’s 10-11 for 157 yards and 2 TD. While that’s all fine and dandy, it’s not impressing anyone. Brady’s perfect 158.3 passer rating in this game is not impressing anyone.
Preseason football is useless. The only things that come out of it, from a fan’s perspective, are injuries like the one Julian Edelman suffered tonight.
Non-contact knee injuries are bad news. Hoping Edelman's OK, but this doesn't look good. pic.twitter.com/w5qUXzxW5m
— Liam Martin (@LiamWBZ) August 25, 2017
I hope Edelman is alright, but non-contact knee injuries rarely come with happy endings. Assuming the worst, it’s time to get the rest of our starters off of the field.
Brady, along with Rob Gronkowski, Stephon Gilmore, Brandin Cooks, and Malcolm Butler should be receiving the bubble boy from Seinfeld treatment. Put them in a glass box until week 1.
Less preseason games
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This brings me to my main point. The NFL needs to shorten the preseason to one or two games. With a sport as physically taxing as football, the players cannot afford to play four extra games.
Bill Belichick probably disagrees with me. I understand that teams have things to work on, and teams’ studs never play every snap or even every game, but I can say one thing for sure. Losing key players in the preseason is detrimental to the regular season.
“Well thanks, Einstein”. It may sound obvious, but it happens too often for teams to continually enter into games that mean absolutely nothing. Injuries in football are like elderly folks eating dinner at 5pm. It’s just a universal truth. Let’s leave the injuries to meaningful competitions.
The Patriots should forfeit their 4th preseason game. Players have spoken out against the NFL preseason before and they will do it again. The Patriots should make a statement to the league by ending their preseason early. Unfortunately, the league does not take kindly to the Patriots.
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Hopefully Edelman’s injury was nothing more than a scare. Regardless, the NFL needs to change its preseason format.