New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman will miss three weeks with a thumb injury, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Edelman will miss the start of training camp. It’s unclear how or when Edelman sustained the injury, but he was wearing a brace on his left thumb while running a youth camp this weekend in Sudbury, Mass.
At that point, news wasn’t out that Edelman would miss time. He spoke about his anticipation for camp.
“I’m extremely excited for the new year,” the Patriots wide receiver said Saturday morning at his Julian Edelman Football Clinic, via NESN’s Zack Cox. “This is a new team. Training camp coming up, this is kind of like when school’s back in session. We had summer break, (and now) you get to see all the fellas. This is where you learn your team and learn each other and become accountable for each other and work hard together and create a consistency together.
“This is like the beginning shape form of your team, these next few weeks. It’s a crucial point. We put a lot of hard work in during the spring, and (this) is the next step to playing other teams, so it’s definitely exciting.”
Edelman will be missed, particularly when considering how impactful he was on Harry during the early stages of spring practices.
In Edelman’s absence, the Patriots will have a wide open receiver competition. He and first-round draft pick N’Keal Harry are the only two roster locks. But Harry is hardly guaranteed a starting role. He’ll have to compete against Maurice Harris, Dontrelle Inman, Phillip Dorsett, Braxton Berrios, Jakobi Myers, Ryan Davis, Damoun Patterson and Gunner Olszewski. Demaryius Thomas should enter the mix, though he will start training camp on the physically unable to perform list. Josh Gordon, who is serving an indefinite suspension, may also join the competition, depending upon whether the NFL reinstates him.
Tom Brady will get no shortage of work with new pass-catchers. Only Dorsett, Berrios and Patterson were on last year’s roster. Without Edelman, Thomas or Gordon, the Patriots may feature Harry, Harris and Dorsett as their starting receivers for day one of training camp.
