The New England Patriots are expected to place wide receiver Julian Edelman on injured reserve, according to a report Saturday from NFL Media's Ian Rapoport.
Edelman underwent a procedure Thursday on his injured knee and already had been ruled out for Sunday's road game against the Buffalo Bills.
That injury has slowed the 34-year-old wideout throughout the season. Edelman was limited in all but one Patriots practice before his surgery and played just 68.1 percent of offensive snaps through New England's first six games, a nearly 20-point drop from his 2019 snap rate (87.4).
Edelman leads all Patriots with 21 catches for 315 yards but has caught just eight passes on 21 targets for 79 yards in the last four games.
Under new NFL rules implemented for this season, players who are placed on IR must sit out at least three games. Edelman will be eligible to return against the Houston Texans in Week 11 if he is healthy enough to do so.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Friday he does not believe Edelman's injury will be season-ending.
“We’ll see how the return goes,” Belichick said. “I don’t think this is a season-ending situation, but we’ll see. I’m not a doctor. We’ll see how it goes here. Hopefully, he’ll be back. He’s worked awfully hard, and nobody’s more competitive than Julian is, so he’ll do everything he can to be back out there."
The Patriots also have ruled out receiver N'Keal Harry (concussion) for Sunday's game in Buffalo.
