The New England Patriots were dealt a major blow on Friday night as veteran wide receiver Julian Edelman suffered a serious knee injury that the organization feared could be a torn ACL.
This notion was confirmed Saturday as an MRI revealed that was indeed the case for the 31-year-old, according to Albert Breer of MMQB.
Fears confirmed via MRI, Patriots WR Julian Edelman has a complete ACL tear in his right knee, per source.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) August 26, 2017
This is a huge loss to the Patriots' offense as Edelman has proven to be their most reliable target in the passing game outside of Pro Bowl tight end Rob Gronkowski. He has made 90 or more catches with more than 950 receiving yards in three out of the last four seasons.
The injury bug has plagued Edelman over the last couple of years as he had suffered a break on the fifth metatarsal on his left foot that required him to undergo foot surgery. It forced him to miss the second half of the 2015 season, and he had worked his way back from the injury last year playing in all 16 regular season games and proved to be a tremendous asset in the Super Bowl LI win.
With Edelman out for the entire 2017 campaign, it now puts more pressure on the rest of the receiving core to pick up the load. This may see Tom Brady lean more on Gronkowski along with offseason addition Brandin Cooks and second-year wideout Malcolm Mitchell.
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