For really the first time in his NFL career, Julian Edelman is facing legitimate, sustained criticism.
And he clearly hears it.
Outside of an excellent Week 2 performance agains the Seattle Seahawks, the Patriots receiver has struggled -- we all know about the drops -- while looking banged up, slow(er) and at times borderline disengaged. New England even has kept him off the field for some third downs. The offense, led by Cam Newton, has been unimpressive since the Week 3 game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Edelman essentially addressed the noise with a hype video ahead of the Patriots' Sunday afternoon matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.
Take a look:
Obviously, hype videos and acknowledgment of struggles hardly serve as precursors to rebound performances.
We'll see if a relative week of normalcy was what the doctor ordered or the Patriots when they kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday from Gillette Stadium.
