New England Patriots: 3 players to watch in Thursday night matchup

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FOXBOROUGH, MA – SEPTEMBER 30: (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

The New England Patriots are coming off their best win of the season in Week 4. If these players have a solid performance, the Pats will walk away with another victory.

The New England Patriots are on an emotional high. New England absolutely crushed the Miami Dolphins, and are looking to have a similar outing in Week 5.

It won’t be easy for the Patriots to replicate such a great performance. The Indianapolis Colts are much better offensively and are worthy opponents.

The Patriots will be getting a major upgrade on offense. Julian Edelman is returning from his 4 game suspension and should revitalize the Patriots passing game.

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Week 5 will be an interesting measuring stick for this years team. They have yet to have back to back quality performances. They need to start showing that they are a team that can make it to the Super Bowl.

So here are 3 players to watch on Thursday night.

1. Julian Edelman

I’m interested to see what Julian Edelman can do in his first week back from his 4 game suspension. This will be Edelman’s first regular season game in over a year after tearing his ACL.

Edelman should completely change the Patriots offense. In the first 4 weeks of the season, we saw the lack of depth at wide receiver. Tom Brady had no one to throw to and it led to some poor performances.

With Edelman back, the other Patriots should have more opportunities to get open since the focus will be on Edelman. This will also help Rob Gronkowski have an easier time getting open.

The thing is that nobody knows what type of Julian Edelman we will be seeing. He is 32 years old and I don’t know if he will be able to make the same plays that he used to before his knee injury. Edelman didn’t look amazing in the preseason so he will have a lot to prove on Thursday night.

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