Morning sports update: Julian Edelman explained his mentality as his four-game suspension nears
"It’s definitely been a reality check."
J.D. Martinez scored when Marlins shortstop JT Riddle sent a throw past first base in the ninth inning, powering the Red Sox to an 8-7 win over Miami on Tuesday night. Boston narrowly avoided its first four-game losing streak of the season.
Here are a few more sports headlines to get you caught up as you start your day:
Julian Edelman explained his mentality as his four-game suspension nears
When the Patriots open the regular season against the Houston Texans, Julian Edelman will not be able to don his usual blue-and-white No. 11. However, the suspended wide receiver still plans to wear some New England gear.
“I’ll definitely be watching and I’ll have my Patriots hat on and probably a soda and some popcorn,” he said Tuesday, per the Boston Globe’s Jim McBride.
Edelman is set to miss the first four games of the season because of a suspension for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy. As his teammates ready for the Texans — and he prepares for the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5 — the slot specialist noted he’s looking forward to the grind.
“Real football starts soon,” Edelman said. “So, it’s definitely been a reality check, but I’m not going to sit here and worry about things I can’t control. Ultimately, I put myself in this situation, so it’s more of let’s go and get myself ready for when I can play, taking the extra time to get my knee feeling great, getting my ankles feeling great, [and] this, that, [and] the other thing, because the NFL season is a grind. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
For the 32-year-old, this week’s practices took on added importance with the suspension looming.
“Yeah, I won’t be there for the first four, so I don’t want to go into those weeks saying, ‘I wish I would have done this or I wish I would have done that.’ It’s been a hard week,” he said.
Edelman was limited at the outset of training camp as he recovered from the ACL injury that kept him on the sidelines for the entire 2017 campaign. Since then, he’s “definitely feeling better and better.”
“That’s for sure,” he said. “There’s still things, where you have days where it’s like ‘this is tired or this [and] that.’ Our training staff has been working hard. They’ve been on top of it. Just doing all the little stuff, little exercises to keep stuff strengthened. This [and] that. It’s been a grind.”
The wide receiver is not expected to play in Thursday’s final preseason game against the New York Giants.
Bill Belichick gave a shoutout to a forgotten New England delicacy: The Patriots head coach noted that his staff is focused on football — not “watermelon rolls and badminton contests and all that.” Belichick has to trim his roster to 53 players by Saturday, which doesn’t leave much time for sherbet-ice cream hybrids. (Boston.com)
What you need to know about Patriots’ roster cuts and possible trades:
At the moment, New England has more than 80 players on its roster. Belichick’s history shows a proclivity for late trades before the regular season, as well as a willingness to bring a player back onboard after cutting them at the deadline. (Boston.com)
The Red Sox talked to J.D. Martinez about his old Instagram post on Hitler and gun laws: Martinez became the latest athlete to face criticism for past social media activity when one of his Instagram posts from 2013 recently resurfaced. In the post, the slugger promoted a counterfactual meme invoking Hitler to argue against gun control. (Boston.com)
Daily highlight:
https://twitter.com/espnW/status/1034659411644612610
