Rob Ninkovich has been working out with Julian Edelmen. Here’s what he saw.
"I put the pads on a little bit. I gave him a little jam at the line-of-scrimmage to help my buddy out."
Suspended for the first four weeks of the season, Julian Edelman turned to an old friend to help get ready for his 2018 Patriots debut.
Rob Ninkovich might be retired from the NFL (partly occupying his time in a TV role for NBC Sports Boston), but he’s still able to put the pads on when it comes to readying Edelman for the rigors of professional football.
“It’s great. I’ve been helping him out and he’s ready to go,” Ninkovich said in a recent interview on the topic. “He looks really good. He looks fast.”
In Ninkovich’s opinion, expectations about Edelman’s immediate impact might need to be tempered with knowledge of his recent history.
“I think people forget that he did [tear] an ACL last year, so that’s not the easiest injury to come back from. I think that he’s going to do well. He’s going to run the routes that he’s always run.”
“Now it’s just going to be volume. Everyone’s been saying, ‘Once Julian’s back, once Julian’s back, once Julian’s back,'” Ninkovich continued. “Well look, he’s had an ACL [injury], he’s coming back, but if he has 15 receptions and he’s getting pounded his first week back, I mean that might not be the best for long term Julian Edelman.”
In terms of how the 32-year-old receiver looks, Ninkovich was unequivocal.
“I think he looks great, he’s explosive, he’s fast.”
Though it might seem hard to believe, the last meaningful football game that Edelman played was also the last for Ninkovich: Super Bowl LI. Edelman’s played in preseason games since then, but he hasn’t had too much to prepare him for the physicality of the game.
Luckily, Ninkovich – a former defensive player – had no problem filling in.
“I put the pads on a little bit,” Ninkovich joked. “I gave him a jam at the line-of-scrimmage to help my buddy out.”
