Bedard: Julian Edelman's thumb injury will ultimately help Patriots' passing game

A league source confirmed that Julian Edelman will miss multiple weeks — which would be most, if not all, of training camp — after sustaining an offseason left thumb injury. The severity of the injury and how the injury occurred is not immediately known. ESPN first reported the news.

In a passing game that's undergoing almost a total personnel overhaul at receiver and tight end, it's never great to be without your key piece and the quarterback's security blanket. Sure, others can grow in his absence — and we'll touch on that in a minute — but you do want some efficiency and effectiveness in the passing game, or else everyone will lose their rhythm. And Tom Brady will probably lose his (stuff) at some point if the ball is on the ground more than it's supposed to be.

At the least, Edelman's injury should give some Patriots the chance to be the best version of themselves. Or, at least, they can show very quickly whether they have the right stuff to play in the league, in this offense and for this quarterback. Or not.

Ranking the beneficiaries of the Edelman injury:

1. Braxton Berrios: No question, this is great for Berrios — if he can play. He hasn't proven that yet. If Berrios is the guy we saw last year, this exposure will probably hurt him. If he's the guy who was trending up in offseason practices, this will be great. He basically gets three weeks to be Julian Edelman, from the slot receiver role to punt returner. This could almost be like when Wes Welker got "Wally Pipp'd" a few years back.



2. Jakobi Meyers: The undrafted free agent, while not a slot receiver, should just see more balls and reps, and that's always good when you're trying to make the team. Brady can't just check down to Edelman all day long.

3. Maurice Harris and Dontrelle Inman: The two free agents will get more reps during and after practice with Brady to learn the offense, and what Brady does and doesn't like. Will be interesting to see who joins Brady's Circle of Trust.

4. Everyone else: From the tight ends to the backs, everyone will see more targets during practice, especially during competitive drills. When the team goes to third downs or two-minute, Brady will have to find others to rely on. That needed to happen in any event. Now it's easier.

The big thing, overall, is that there is a lot of work to do in order to get this passing offense up to speed, and not having Edelman there takes a crutch away from Brady and will allow others to grow.

We all know Edelman will be back and effective. This will help others up their game as well.