The season hasn’t started yet and Julian Edelman is already battling an injury.
The wide receiver was one of five Patriots listed on the first injury report of the season with a knee injury. Edelman was limited in practice Wednesday, along with Gunner Olszewski (foot) and Chase Winovich (shoulder).
Yodny Cajuste (knee) and Cassh Maluia (knee) didn’t participate at all, though the rookie linebacker was working out on an exercise bike during the media window at the start of practice.
With Mohamed Sanu jettisoned and the team extremely young at tight end, Edelman’s presence in the Patriots offense is as important as it’s ever been. The veteran was been given a noticeably lighter workload than usual this summer. There were days in training camp when he was very limited at practice, and one session when he wasn’t on the field at all.
Edelman admitted it’s been an adjustment for him.
“Ah, yeah it is,” Edelman said on a video conference call last week. “I’ve been playing here, this is my 12th year. This is the first time I’ve really done this.”
He declined to say whether there was a specific reason for the way he’d been treated, but this injury report certainly offers some more insight on that.
“We don’t talk about health here,” Edelman said. “I don’t even know if I can... So, I don’t want to, you know... we don’t talk about that.”
The Dolphins are already a bit banged up too.
They had six players limited on Wednesday, including stars Byron Jones (achilles) and DeVante Parker (hamstring). Old friend Kyle Van Noy is battling a hand injury. Quarterback of the future Tua Tagovailoa (hip) was a full participant, but Ryan Fitzpatrick will get the start for Miami on Sunday.
Here’s the team’s full report:
PATRIOTS
DID NOT PARTICIPATE
OL Yodny Cajuste - Knee
LB Cassh Maluia - Knee
LIMITED AVAILABILITY
WR Julian Edelman - Knee
WR Gunner Olszewski - Foot
DL Chase Winovich - Shoulder
DOLPHINS
LIMITED AVAILABILITY
TE Mike Gesicki - Glute
CB Xavien Howard - Knee
CB Byron Jones - Achilles
WR DeVante Parker - Hamstring
LB Kyle Van Noy - Hand
WR Preston Williams - Knee
FULL AVAILABILITY
QB Tua Tagovailoa - Hip
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