Report: Is Edelman's season over? Some close to him think so

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Sunday marks the Patriots' first game without either Tom Brady or Julian Edelman in a while... a long while.  

How long? The last time New England played without Brady or Edelman was the 2008 season-finale, which was 4.326 days ago (H/T BostonSportsInf on Twitter). And though Edelman will miss at least the next three games after being placed on injured reserve, could his 2020 campaign already be over?

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That's what some people close to the veteran wideout believe, according to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport.

“He had knee surgery late this week on a knee that really has been bothering him the entirety of the season. From what I understand, his knee is bone-on-bone, so he had surgery to clean things out and ease some discomfort," Rapoport said Sunday morning. "Based on the IR rules this year, he’s out at least three games and coach Bill Belichick said he expects Edelman back this season. I talked to several people close to him, they have their doubts on if that is the case. Either way, if he returns this season he will be doing it on a knee that still hurts.”

If Edelman's season is indeed over, Bill Belichick wasn't letting on earlier this week.

"I don’t think this is a season-ending situation, but we’ll see. I’m not a doctor," Belichick said. "Hopefully, he’ll be back. He’s worked awfully hard. Nobody is more competitive than Julian is. He’ll do everything he can to be back out there. We’ll just take it day-by-day as a process and see how it goes."

Edelman has 21 receptions for 315 yards this season, but hasn't found the end zone yet and has seen his production sharply tail off since a career-high 179 receiving yards at Seattle in Week 2. In his last four games, he has just eight catches (on 21 targets) for a pedestrian 79 yards.

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Without Edelman, the Patriots are seriously shorthanded at wide receiver. With N'Keal Harry also out thanks to a concussion, New England's not-very-deep depth chart at wideout against the Bills includes Damiere Byrd, Jakobi Meyers, Isaiah Zuber and Gunner Olszewski.

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