The NFL has officially denied New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman's appeal of his four-game suspension for violating the league's performance-enhancing substance policy, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The appeal hearing reportedly took quite some time, and the discussion was contentious. Edelman and his camp vehemently denied that he took a drug that violated the league's policy. The substance wasn't “immediately recognizable” when the test occurred, per MMQB's Albert Breer.

Edelman missed the entire 2017 season after tearing his ACL in the preseason. The previous year, he helped the Patriots win the Super Bowl after recording 98 catches and a career-high 1,106 receiving yards in the regular season. He participated in OTAs and minicamp earlier this offseason.

In addition to appealing the results of the drug test itself, Edelman argued that the documentation and delivery of his test results were mishandled by the NFL in accordance to the protocol on the matter.

The Patriots and star quarterback Tom Brady will now begin the 2018 season without one of their most reliable targets, which hurts even more with the departure of Danny Amendola and trade of Brandin Cooks to the Los Angeles Rams this offseason. Their first four games come against the Houston Texans at home, the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road as well as at the Detroit Lions, and then home again for the Miami Dolphins.

Along with Rob Gronkowski and running back James White, Brady will rely on new acquisitions Jordan Matthews and Cordarrelle Patterson in the passing game to open the new campaign.