FOXBOROUGH – Asked his thoughts on the 2025 Patriots, Julian Edelman didn’t pull any punches.
“(My) impressions are, they definitely looked like they improved from Week 1 to Week 2,” Edelman said Friday from the Patriots Hall of Fame after his jacket-fitting. “I think it’s going to be a long process. Rome wasn’t built overnight.”
After the first two weeks, the Patriots are 1-1 with the Pittsburgh Steelers on tap Sunday. Edelman’s thoughts on quarterback Drake Maye and offense were largely positive.
“It’s very tough to win in this game. I’m excited with where the offense is going,” Edelman said. “You look at their numbers last week, compared with the week before and I think they were 7-for-13 or 12 on third down, 3-of-4 in the red area. So those are the key things I like to look at to see if a team is improving, at least offensively.”
It was like a night-and-day transformation for the offense between the Week 1 loss to the Raiders, to the Week 2 win over the Dolphins.
“If they continue to do that, and worry about what’s on their plate right now, each week, which Vrabel is the kind of guy that has that mentality, that mindset,” Edelman said. “I expect them to do good things.”
Will they make the playoffs?
“I don’t know,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s a bad year if they don’t.”
Edelman thought Maye was looking “a lot more comfortable” especially going into a new offense in his season.
“He’s looking like he’s processing,” Edelman said. He’s looking like he’s throwing with his feet under him, which is a big part of playing quarterback.
“Those operational skills in a Josh McDaniels offense are completely different than what he did the year before,” the former star receiver went on, “and it’s probably more demanding for the quarterback getting the play call in, establishing the personnel, communicating the play, getting to the line of scrimmage, taking the pre-snap read of the front, the coverage … all while making sure your guys are set. That’s a lot of work.”
As for the defense, Edelman believes they’ll get better as the season progresses.
“That’s kind of always the rap with Vrabel’s defenses,” Edelman said. “They’re always tough. So, I’m excited for them.”
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