Julian Edelman has been dealing with a knee problem all season. It's the reason why he's played limited snaps over the course of the first six games. It's the reason why the receiver has been limited in every practice this season.
As it turns out, it's also the reason why the Patriots will be without their No. 1 receiver this weekend in Buffalo. Edelman missed Thursday's Patriots practice and reportedly won't play this weekend.
According to ESPN, Edelman "under went a precautionary standard knee procedure" on Thursday morning. He's expected to be sidelined for "some period of time."
For the Patriots, this can't be a big surprise, but it is a big blow. The team was also missing N'Keal Harry on Thursday after the receiver suffered a concussion last weekend. This means the Patriots will likely travel to Buffalo without two of their three top receivers.
With Edelman, something has clearly been wrong. Aside from him being limited in every practice due to the knee injury, the receiver has looked like a shell of himself this year.
The 34-year-old started off strong. In Week 1, he caught five passes for 57 yards. In Week 2, he caught eight passes for a career-high 179 yards in Seattle. Since then, nothing has been the same. Over the last four games, Edelman has eight receptions for 79 yards. He caught one pass for 13 yards last weekend. Two weeks ago, he finished with two receptions for eight yards.
For a player coming off a 1,000-yard season, it was clear that the knee injury was holding Edelman back. This season, Edelman (265) has played fewer snaps than Damiere Byrd (360) and Harry (277). Despite being limited, Edelman still leads the Patriots in receptions (21) and receiving yards (315).
The hope is that this procedure will bring the receiver back to his normal self, but in the meantime, the Patriots have a problem at the receiver position. On Thursday, the Pats had three receivers present on their 53-man roster – Byrd, Jakobi Meyers and Gunner Olszewski. The team also has three receivers on the practice squad in Isaiah Zuber, Mason Kinsey and Kristian Wilkerson.
Meyers (four catches, 60 yards) stepped up last weekend when Harry suffered his injury. This weekend, it'll be interesting to see if Olszewski slides into Edelman's role. This summer, the second-year receiver had a strong training camp. He led all receivers in receptions in camp, but has one catch this season for 11 yards.
For the Patriots and their struggling offense, things continue to trend in the wrong direction.
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