New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been unusually open to giving injury updates on wide receiver Julian Edelman this season.
Belichick provided some more positive news about Edelman's status Wednesday. Edelman was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 31 after having a procedure on his knee. He was eligible to return to practice last week.
"Yeah, I think Julian's definitely headed in the right direction," Belichick said Wednesday. "I spoke to him and he's feeling better every day, confident, stronger. So we'll just take it day by day. And when he's ready to go, we'll put him out there. We don't want to rush it or put him out there and, I don't know, there's a setback and then we run out of time. When he's ready, he'll be back out there. I know he's working very hard to get back out there as soon as he can. We'll just take that day by day and see when we all think that time is right."
The Patriots practice Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. ET, but Edelman is not expected to participate, a league source told The Boston Globe's Jim McBride. Once Edelman returns to practice and is designated to return, the Patriots would have 21 days to activate him to the 53-man roster. If NFL teams don't activate a player during that 21-day window, then he would revert to season-ending injured reserve.
The Patriots are 2-2 without Edelman. Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers has emerged in his absence. The Patriots also have wide receivers Damiere Byrd, N'Keal Harry, Isaiah Ford and Gunner Olszewski on their 53-man roster and Donte Moncrief, Isaiah Zuber and Kristian Wilkerson on their practice squad.
