New England Patriots

Tony Romo defended Julian Edelman after his costly drop led to a pick-six

"He's been around a long time, he's like, 'I'm probably not gonna get this ball.'"

Julian Edelman came up empty on more than one occasion Monday night. Charlie Riedel/AP Photo

By Trevor Hass

2 minutes to read

Julian Edelman has made countless clutch plays over the course of his career, but the Super Bowl LIII MVP is currently leading a list no wide receiver wants to lead.

After missing two catchable balls Monday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, Edelman has 11 dropped passes since the start of last season. No other player has more than eight in that span.

On one of those drops Monday, the ball fell out of his hands and popped into Tyrann Mathieu’s hands. Mathieu snared it and took off for a pick-six with 8:48 left in the game that gave the Chiefs a nine-point edge in their 26-10 win. While many were quick to criticize Edelman for the miscue, CBS broadcaster Tony Romo chose to look at the macro rather than the micro.

Advertisement:

Romo believes Edelman, who only had three receptions for 35 yards in the Patriots-run-heavy attack, wasn’t necessarily looking for the ball from quarterback Jarrett Stidham on first and 10 at that point in time.

“OK, this is crazy, maybe I shouldn’t say it,” said Romo. “Watch his head, his head turns and tries to go upfield, right? I genuinely believe he just hasn’t been a huge part of the offense all game, and now all of a sudden you’re running a flat route.

“Just from the emotional perspective of a player. Listen. Edelman’s off the charts, high level. He’s trying to look, but really his body language is just going to the sideline. He’s running a flat route that’s kinda covered. He’s been around a long time, he’s like, ‘I’m probably not gonna get this ball.'”

Advertisement:

Then the ball came, and the element of surprise forced Edelman to miss it. Mathieu happened to be in the right place at the right time and capitalize, accentuating a night full of rare and clumsy miscues on the New England side.

“There’s little things (the Patriots) don’t normally do,” Romo said.

Profile image for Trevor Hass

Trevor Hass

Trevor Hass is a sports producer for Boston.com, where he writes and edits stories about Boston's professional teams, among other tasks.

Get Boston.com's browser alerts:

Enable breaking news notifications straight to your internet browser.

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com