Column: Edelman's loss hurts, but changes little about team's Super aspirations

DETROIT — Julian Edelman has been incredibly valuable to this Patriots team over the previous four seasons since he took over Wes Welker’s role as the slot receiver in New England’s offense.

It’s not only the 90-plus catches (each season he’s played at least 14 games during that time) and the yards after the catch. It’s the inherent toughness — bred through being a coach’s son, a college quarterback and a seventh-round nobody — he brought to the field every game that gave himself and the Patriots an edge. Having shared a similar “nobody believed in us” path to the NFL, Edelman and Tom Brady were always on the same wavelength, almost like they could think each other's thoughts.

Now, after suffering a knee injury Friday night against the Lions that is expected to result in surgery and end his season (pending an MRI on Saturday), it looks like Patriots will have to deal with life AJ: After Jules.

Certainly not ideal, but for this group, definitely manageable.

Yes, life without Jules is a scary thought. In many ways, the Patriots were better with Edelman after Welker, and the team has two Super Bowl titles in three seasons as partial proof. Fans loved his toughness and trash talking. He seemed to be the swag that stirred the Patriots’ drink in many ways. Even a newcomer like Brandin Cooks saw it.

“You’re talking about a guy who’s been a vet here for so many years, that plays the game at a high level year in and year out,” Cooks said. “He’s a leader, the guy means a lot to the team. A guy like that is special.”

All that being said, however, Edelman’s injury changes little for this Patriots team. They’ll still be great on offense, they should have a better defense, and they’re still the overwhelming Super Bowl favorite.

"Still the team to beat — by far," said one AFC scout in attendance at Ford Field. "This might hurt a lot of teams, but not the Patriots."

This team has Cooks, Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola, Rob Gronkowski plus two running backs in James White and Dion Lewis that are pseudo receivers. If any team can withstand this injury, it’s the Patriots.

Look, nobody has been better at the “Z” receiver position in this offense. The X is the boundary receiver, the Y is the tight end, and the Z is the slot receiver. Edelman, due to his route running and athletic ability, has no peer. Not Troy Brown, and not Welker.

But no one person is going to going to replace what Edelman does in this offense. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels made that clear in 2015, when the team lost both Edelman (broken foot) and Dion Lewis (ACL tear) in the same week. Edelman returned for the postseason.

“I think it's important to understand that there's nobody that's going to go in and just take Julian’s place, including Danny,” McDaniels said on Nov. 17, 2015. “Danny's role is going to be filled with things we feel good about Danny doing, and then there might be some other people who are going to need to do some things that maybe we haven't asked a whole lot of them as well.

“So I think that all our players, Danny included, would understand and respect the opportunity to go in there and maybe carry and handle a little extra burden. … It's our responsibility to try to take all the players that we have and move the ball on a consistent basis, take care of the ball and protect it and score points. So whatever formula we think is the best to do that, we're going to try to do that from one week to the next. Danny certainly will play a role in that, but we've got a lot of other guys that are going to play a role in doing that as well.”

I know what you’re thinking. You’re remembering back to 2015 and saying, “Hey, that didn’t work out so well for us back then.” You’re not totally wrong. The Patriots, after starting 10-0 with Edelman and Lewis, slumped to 3-4 and lost home-field advantage to the Broncos, which ended up costing New England a Super Bowl appearance.

That’s correct. But it’s a little bit more complicated than that. There was the dropkick (ugh) against the Eagles, and the Patriots didn’t try in the finale against the Dolphins.

But there’s one other huge difference (besides losing Edelman and Lewis in the same week) this time around: these Patriots are stacked.

Back in 2015, the Patriots did have a healthy Gronkowski (72 catches), Amendola (65) and White (40). Those guys are still here.

In ’15, the other players were Brandon LaFell, Keshawn Martin, Aaron Dobson, Scott Chandler and Brandon Bolden.

In ’17, the Patriots have Cooks, Chris Hogan, Malcolm Mitchell, Dwayne Allen, Lewis and Rex Burkhead.

Talk about a night and day difference.

Look, nobody runs the Z return, option routes, speed outs and slip screens better than Edelman. Those are quick, high percentage, chain-moving plays in this offense, and they’re invaluable, especially to Brady.

But it’s not like the Patriots have no one. Amendola will see an uptick in playing time, and that causes concern because of his lack of durability. Hogan is also a terrific athlete, but he’s taller and comes in a different package. Wouldn’t be surprised if we see White and, especially, Lewis line up more in the slot. They’re basically receivers anyway. And Cooks could do some of what Edelman does, but it’s not his forte. He needs to stretch the field, not move the chains.

It’s not going to look the same. And Brady will have a little bit of a learning curve getting to know his receivers as well as he knew Edelman. Still, it’s not like Edelman and Brady were on the same page every pass. There were at least one or two times a game when Brady and Edelman didn’t see the play the same way. It might be three now, but the Patriots can handle that with not only their additional weapons, but also a more talented stable of running backs and added emphasis on the running game.

Edelman has been a terrific Patriot during his career, and he will be missed. It’s all right to mourn his loss for the rest of this season.

But get over it quickly, because you know the Patriots will. This train is still on schedule and moving toward another Super Bowl appearance. With or without Edelman.