FOXBORO, Mass. — Julian Edelman is not participating in any of the pregame repartee with the Denver Broncos.
The New England Patriots wide receiver won’t talk any trash before Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, though if his mic’d up segments are any indication, he’ll be chattering plenty on Sunday.
“It’s just noise,” Edelman said. “We’re focusing on what they do, not what they say. They’re a really good football team and we can’t afford to get into that game. We have to really just sit back and see what these guys do and go out and prepare for that instead of saying something. That’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to focus on the process, and the process is through the preparation. That’s what we do here.”
Broncos defensive ends Antonio Smith and Malik Jackson called Patriots quarterback Tom Brady a “crybaby” and “whiner” respectively. Edelman had nothing but praise for the Broncos, however.
“They got a bunch of All-Pros and Pro Bowls, a nasty group — good nasty, football nasty,” Edelman said. “You got guys that can get after the passer, get pressure. It’s going to be a battle. You got (cornerback Aqib) Talib, you got (cornerback Chris) Harris, you got (safety T.J.) Ward. You got a bunch of dudes over there that play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. If you slack off and don’t work on the fundamentals of trying to get open against these guys, they take advantage of that. We’ve got to take advantage of these two days.”
Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski did get in on the trash talk action with a possibly inappropriate tweet. Edelman’s reaction?
“I don’t even know. That’s just Gronk,” Edelman said. “You just have to laugh at it. He’s innocent — innocently fun.”
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
