Julian Edelman Gives Patriots Players Heads-Up About Bill O’Brien

If a Patriots player is chewed out by Bill O’Brien this summer, that doesn’t mean the individual is in the New England offensive coordinator’s dog house.

Quite the contrary, in fact.

Edelman helped current Patriots set expectations for O’Brien during a recent appearance on NBC Sports Boston’s “Early Edition.” The former wide receiver, who played under O’Brien for three seasons in New England, explained the Mass. native’s unique way of expressing affection to those he cares about on the football field.

“He used to yell at me a lot,” Edelman said, as transcribed by MassLive. “He’d always find one rookie — my rookie year it was me — that he would just get on. But Billy O. is the kind of guy that if he shows you affection, if he’s yelling at you, that means he loves you. The times that he’s not talking to you, or if he’s not yelling at you, that’s when you’ve got to be worried. He’s a very emotional guy.”

Quirks aside, Edelman believes Bill Belichick and company made a “great move” by bringing O’Brien back to Foxboro to run the offense. The Super Bowl LIII MVP thinks O’Brien’s experience as an NFL head coach only will be beneficial to the Patriots, who will be looking to rebound and return to the playoffs in 2023.