Julian Edelman has made peace with the fact he won't be playing football for the first four weeks of the regular season.
It won't stop the veteran Patriots receiver from preparing like he will be on the field.
Edelman made several rounds of apologies to his team and fans following the four-game suspension handed down by the NFL for violating the league's policy on
performance enhancers. Now he says he plans to use what's left of training camp
to make sure his surgically repaired knee will be ready when he is able to
return. The 32-year-old receiver missed the entire 2017 season with a torn right
anterior cruciate ligament.
Working his way back has been a slow process that's just beginning to pick up.
"It's been a grind
Lawrence Guy Jersey ," Edelman said Friday. "You're compounding day after day after day after day. ... You're always trying to go out and get better and I
have to do a lot better. I feel like I got to get my legs under me a lot
more."
Edelman will miss a home game against Houston, trips to Jacksonville and Detroit, plus a home game against Miami.
He will be eligible to return to the active roster Oct. 1, enabling him to make his 2018 debut Oct. 4 against Indianapolis.
Part of the urgency for Edelman is fueled by changes the receiving corps has undergone since the end of last season. It will certainly have a fresh look to
it when the season opens thanks to Edelman's suspension, the free agency
departure of stalwart Danny Amendola and trade of Brandin Cooks to the Rams.
That is compounded even more with the uncertainty surrounding the status of Malcolm Mitchell, who has yet to participate in a full practice after spending
last season on injured reserve (knee).
It's left openings for someone to earn playing time, and the list of candidates is long.
Among those in camp looking to make the roster are Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett, Kenny Britt, Cordarrelle Patterson and Braxton Berrios. Free agent Eric
Decker signed with the team Friday following the release of Jordan Matthews
earlier in the week.
Edelman said he is encouraged by the work so far from the group. He was particularly high on Patterson, a trade acquisition from Oakland.
"He's a great guy to be around," Edelman said. "He works hard, he's very athletic
Andre Tippett Jersey , and he definitely helps push the unit, so I'm happy we got him. He's going to contribute in a whole different other way. He's
very versatile, and just from his track record I'm glad we have him."
Coach Bill Belichick also has been complimentary of the work Patterson has put in during camp.
"He has skills in offense and the kicking game in a number of different areas, return skills, coverage skills, blocking skills, catching skills,"
Belichick said. "He's got some experience, so he's able to utilize that. He
understands his skill set and how it matches up against different types of
players."
NOTES: Friday marked Tom Brady's 41st birthday and the team gave him a celebration on par with the one for his 40th.
There was a balloon figure version of Brady and a giant No. 12 cake. There were also birthday cards set up outside the practice field entrance for fans to
sign. Fans serenaded the 19-year veteran with a rendition of "Happy Birthday"
after he took the field.
His teammates also got in on the act. Following practice, they got together to sing to the reigning MVP. And in a video posted on the team's official
Twitter account, safety Duron Harmon proclaimed Friday a national holiday
called, "G.O.A.T. Day."
Tight end Rob Gronkowski said he continues to marvel at Brady's longevity
"It's just unreal. It's remarkable," Gronkowski said. "You just learn from him and you want to get taught from him. You want to be on the same chemistry
out on the field because he knows where you need to be. He knows talent around
him
Willie Roaf Jersey , he knows guys around him, he's seen talent from the last 15 (or) 20 years on."
Several signings and one big trade drastically shifted the balance of power across the NHL in a matter of days.
With John Tavares going home to Toronto, Paul Stastny leaving Winnipeg for Vegas, St. Louis signing three free agents and trading for Ryan O’Reilly, the
landscape of the league has changed. The Washington Capitals are bringing back a
vast majority of their team, the Western Conference is loaded and yet the Maple
Leafs now appear to be Stanley Cup favorites after adding Tavares.
”He’s one of the best players in the league,” Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman said. ”And I think it’s obvious to say that Toronto is a better team
today with that acquisition.”
Tavares’ decision to leave the New York Islanders knocks them out of contender status and puts a whole lot of pressure on coach Mike Babcock’s Maple
Leafs to make a deep playoff run. Losing out on Tavares despite reportedly
offering more money than the Maple Leafs’ $77 million over 11 years kept the
Sharks from moving into front-runner status in the West – but they may not be
done yet.
”We pride ourselves on being able to take a swing on difference makers like this,” San Jose GM Doug Wilson said. ”John was the one that we wanted to swing
at.”
The Sharks, who extended Logan Couture and re-signed Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl to keep their core together, have plenty of tradable assets and will keep
swinging for a difference-maker. One is off the market following the Blues‘
trade for O’Reilly that now gives them a potent 1-2-3 punch down the middle with
Brayden Schenn and free agent signing Tyler Bozak.
O’Reilly saw the Blues sign Bozak to a $15 million, three-year contract and wondered if there wasn’t room for him anymore. Now they have centers to match up
with just about any opponent in the league.
”You look at all the teams that have success, they definitely have guys down the middle that compete,” O’Reilly said Monday. ”And I’m thrilled to be a part
of that.”
The Capitals boasted depth with Evgeny Kuznetsov
Desmond Trufant Jersey , Nicklas Backstrom and Lars Eller during their Cup run, and Babcock can now roll out Tavares, Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri.
Vegas lost talent on the wing with David Perron going to St. Louis and James
Neal signing with Calgary but now has a very competitive center corps led by
Stastny, William Karlsson and Erik Haula.
”We do like having centers,” Golden Knights GM George McPhee said. ”You can move centers around the lineup, you can have centers on the wing. You can’t get
wingers to play center.”
Here’s a look at where a few more teams stand early in the preparations for the 2018-19 season:
GOT WHAT THEY NEED
LIGHTNING: Signing Tavares would’ve been a luxury and might’ve necessitated a roster makeover just to fit him under the salary cap. Tampa Bay signed
restricted free agent forward J.T. Miller to a long term deal, extended
defenseman Ryan McDonagh, got a deal done with Slater Koekkoek and should have
much of the same team that won the Atlantic Division last season.
”We try to improve our team,” Yzerman said. ”I don’t sense that we have a need to change just to change.”
FLAMES: Inking Neal to a $28.75 million, five-year contract would be a nice capper to the Flames‘ offseason that began with acquiring center Elias Lindholm
and defenseman Noah Hanifin from Carolina. New coach Bill Peters could put Neal
or Lindholm on right wing with Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan.
GM Brad Treliving’s final tasks this offseason are to find a backup goaltender to Mike Smith and sign restricted free agents Lindholm and Hanifin to
new contracts.
KINGS: Long-term , signing franchise defenseman Drew Doughty to an $88 million, eight-year extension is the most important thing Los Angeles did. In
the shorter term, it also won the competition for returning Russian winger Ilya
Kovalchuk
Craig Robertson Jersey , who GM Rob Blake believes can play with either top-six center, Anze Kopitar or Jeff Carter, and produce at age 35.
”That scoring-type winger was something that we needed to add,” Blake said. ”Where he plays on the power play and the way he scores goals with his shot I
think is something we’ve coveted or looked for.”
WORK LEFT TO DO
SENATORS: They traded Mike Hoffman, bought out Alexandre Burrows but still have at least one big problem with the future of Norris Trophy-winning
defenseman Erik Karlsson. The Senators have reportedly given Karlsson’s camp
permission to speak with other teams about a contract – which is expected to
look a whole lot like Doughty’s deal – which would open to door to Ottawa
trading its captain rather than losing him for nothing like the Islanders did
when Tavares wouldn’t sign early.
”We start Oct. 4,” GM Pierre Dorion said Sunday in Ottawa. ”We’ve got lots of time.”
OILERS: Connor McDavid won the scoring title and the Ted Lindsay award as the players’ choice for most outstanding player, and yet Edmonton missed the
playoffs by 17 points. GM Peter Chiarelli publicly dangled the 10th pick in the
draft to try to get an offensive defenseman and hasn’t been able to acquire one
yet.
Meanwhile, left wing Milan Lucic is 30, coming off a 34-point dud of a season and still has five years left on his contract at a $6 million annual cap hit.
Lucic’s name has come up in trade talks, but moving him now won’t be easy, so
the Oilers have to prepare for life with him next season.
”He’s a proud guy and we expect to have him back and at a
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