Edelman expects to stay at receiver
The Sports Xchange
--Wide receiver Julian Edelman, a two-way player
on offense and defense, still isn't sure where he'll fit in this
upcoming season, nor has he had any discussions with the coaching staff
about moving to defense on a full-time basis.
"You'd have to ask (Bill Belichick) on that,"
Edelman said. "I'm pretty sure that's his cup of tea."
Like most of the receivers on the roster, Edelman
is facing stiff competition this summer, and playing defense might
guarantee him the most playing time -- that and his role on special
teams as a punt returner.
"I'm just trying to become a better receiver right
now," he said. "When it's punt return (time), you try to become a
better punt returner."
--Quarterback Tom Brady received some playful jabs
from teammates regarding his role in a new Under Armour commercial in
which he becomes angry at a salesman for teasing him about his alleged
Boston accent.
When told Edelman offered his own critique, Brady
playfully replied, "Julian is always critical of everything I do. I
appreciate it and I'm very flattered that he likes it.
"I was laughing the whole day and they were like,
'No, you've got to get angry,' so I said, 'OK, let me get the angry
part down.' It was fun," Brady continued. "Hopefully a lot of people
watch it and go out and buy Under Armour shoes."
--Though some players admit they don't watch past
losses when they air on television -- take Tom Brady, for example -
nose tackle Vince Wilfork insists he's put the Super Bowl loss to the
Giants in the rear-view mirror as he prepares for the upcoming season.
"No effect on me. No effect on me," he said. "You
start back to where you started at, from zero. That's where I'm at
right now. You can't dwell over spoiled milk. Last year was last year.
"That's how you have to look at it. You have to be
a professional. When it comes down to it, you have to be a professional
about everything, and that plays a big part now. We have to be able to
move forward. I've moved forward."
--One of the observations worth noting from this
past week's workouts is that linebacker Rob Ninkovich, who primarily
played linebacker last year in the team's 4-3 base defense, spent a lot
of time practicing with the defensive linemen.
Whether this denotes a shift in philosophy remains
to be seen; perhaps the Patriots are trying to build Ninkovich's
versatility and/or take advantage of his flexibility. The Patriots
didn't show much of their base set at the OTAs, so there's no telling
what Ninkovich's true role will be once camp begins.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Calm down, don't worry about it,
focus on it. That's how I've been able to do a lot of things in my home
state on a team that a lot of people said I should have been gone off
of about two years ago. Anything is possible." -- Patriots' DL Ron Brace on how he deals with adversity stemming from the fact injuries
limited him to just seven games last year.
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