New England Patriots: Julian Edelman still has some football left

The end is not near for New England Patriots veteran wide receiver Julian Edelman.

Don’t rule out a Julian Edelman return in 2020 as the New England Patriots veteran receiver is eligible to come off injured reserve after missing nearly a month of football.

In fact, don’t rule out Edelman playing beyond the remainder of the season. Of course, that will depend on how much better he looks on the field physically following a knee procedure.

Speaking to the media via video conference Wednesday, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick gave an update on Edelman’s progress. Of course, as is usually the case with players coming off injury, the status is “day to day.”

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Here’s what the coach had to say about the status of his No. 1 receiver.

"“I think Julian is definitely headed in the right direction,” Belichick said, as transcribed by WEEI. “I spoke to him and he’s feeling better every day, confident, stronger. We’ll just take it day by day. When he’s ready to go, we’ll put him out there, but we don’t want to rush it or put him out there and then there’s a setback and then we run out of time. So, when he’s ready, he’ll be back out there. I know he’s working very hard to get back out there as soon as he can. We’ll just take that day by day and see when we all feel like that time is right.”"

The team’s current status is also playing a role on how quickly Julian Edelman gets back out on the field.

Entering Sunday’s Week 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, the New England Patriots are 4-6 with little or no margin for error if the teams hopes to still make the playoffs. A loss could push the team to take their time with Edelman or perhaps even shut him down for the rest of the season.

A win, and perhaps adding Edelman to the offense could help the team win out and sneak into the playoffs.

Julian Edelman is not done playing football

Either way, Julian Edelman is not done playing football despite his age and despite how he looked prior to going on IR.

As evident in the team’s Week 2 loss against the Seattle Seahawks, Edelman proved he can still have an impact on the game with nearly 200 yards receiving in that game.

So, is retirement an option for Edelman following the 2020 NFL season?

With how dedicated of a football player he is, the answer to that is probably not as long as his knee allows him to still perform physically. Even at the age of 34, he can still be a value on a playoff contending team even if that is not the New England Patriots in 2021.

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While that is not something Patriots fans want to hear, the offense has actually been flowing better without Julian Edelman and the team has perhaps found something in both Jakobi Meyers and Damiere Byrd who have had career games in the passing game the past few weeks.

Would Bill Belichick actually move on from Edelman?

We all know the answer to that considering his age and lack of production lately. The remainder of the season will be important as to how other teams see his value going into 2021.

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