Julian Edelman: ‘I’m living my best life’
He's back.
Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman says he’s living his best life.
“I feel like I’m the best me right now,” the 32-year-old said after New England’s 38-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts Thursday night.
Edelman, who returned to the field for his first regular-season game since January 2017, said it was “great” to be back with “the fellas.” After missing over a year — he estimated the absence to be 495 days — due to a torn ACL and a four-game performance-enhancing drugs suspension, Edelman (quite literally) came out of the gates running. Prior to kick-off, he sprinted the length of the field out of Gillette Stadium’s tunnel to the tune of a roaring crowd.
“That’s something that gets me fired up,” Edelman said. “You get to share it with the people that come out and support you, [and] get them riled up. I remember when I tore my ACL, I was sitting back, and, during the rehab, you’re just sitting there and can’t wait to run out of that tunnel.”
Against the Colts, Edelman and quarterback Tom Brady also got off to a fast start. Brady went a perfect 9-for-9 on the Patriots’ opening drive, completing two passes — including the first of the game — to Edelman for 22 yards. Edelman finished with seven catches on nine targets for 57 yards.
“That was great,” Brady said. “We wanted to get him involved, and he made some great plays. It was just good to have him out there. I’m sure we all want to be perfect any time we go out, but I was really happy to be out there with him. He’s a great player, and, obviously, the more great players you have out there, the better we’re going to move the ball and score points. I’ve played with Jules for a long time, and I’m really happy to have him out there healthy.”
Coach Bill Belichick also noted it was “good to have [Edelman] back,” but he was quick to point out, as he usually does, that the team still has a long way to go. Up next for the Patriots are the 4-0 Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 14.
“[Edelman] had a role in the offense — certainly not a full one — so we’ll see how it goes,” Belichick said. “We’ll figure it out next week.”
Belichick said Edelman has been working hard in his ongoing rehab from his knee injury as well as in the short week ahead of Thursday’s Colts game. Edelman said he “definitely took advantage of the time” he had away from the Patriots during his suspension and thanked the several local institutions, like Harvard, Boston College, and Rivers Academy, that welcomed him into their facilities. But Edelman — who wore a customized No. 11 jersey to his postgame press conference — wouldn’t 100-percent confirm the report that he also trained at the Celtics’ Auerbach Center, only telling reporters he “worked out in Brighton will some tall guys.”
“It was pretty cool to see all the support from all these people and these organizations and these places,” he said.
