After completing the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, it wasn’t a surprise that the New England Patriots were heavily favored the win the Super Bowl for a second consecutive season. With most of the team, including future Hall of Famers Tom Brady and Bill Belichick coming back, it’s hard to bet against the Pats.
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But those hopes took a hit during the preseason, when wide receiver Julian Edelman tore his ACL and was lost for the season. Edelman came through time and time again in the most biggest moments and replacing that kind of production won’t be easy.
With the game on the line Tom Brady knew he could trust Edelman to be right where he expected him to be, and that made the Patriots’ offense almost impossible to stop.
After the injury, Brady said the thing he would miss the most about not having Edelman around this season is the trust the two have cultivated over the years. Brady is so comfortable playing alongside Edelman it’s like they both see the game through the same eyes.
With Edelman out of the picture this season, the Patriots will turn to their other receivers and hope they can fill the void left by Edelman.
One of the receivers Brady will be counting on this season is new acquisition Brandin Cooks. The 23-year-old wide receiver has shown he isn’t afraid of the spotlight and has over 1,100 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns in each of the past two seasons.
Even though he doesn’t have the same amount of chemistry with Brady like Edelman does, Brady told reporters he is very impressed with what he has seen from the young receiver since he signed with the Patriots. The pair hooked up for a number of impressive deep balls in practice, but those were kept under wraps during the preseason.
One of the things that impresses Brady the most about Cooks is his maturity as well as his professionalism. Brady said having someone as young as Cooks, who is more mature than his age, is very beneficial to the team and offense.
Unlike most teams in the league, the Patriots are at a place where the only goal going into a season is winning another championship, and Brady said Cooks not only understands the concept, but embraces it. Cooks has been very demanding of himself since he signed with New England and his work ethic seems to be rubbing off on some of the younger teammates, which Brady also appreciates.
Even though Brady and Cooks didn’t spend a lot of time together on the field during the preseason, the future Hall of Famer expects their chemistry to improve as the season goes on and the offense to continue operating smoothly even though Edelman isn’t on the field.
In the preseason, Cooks played in only two games and totaled 48 snaps. He was targeted three times by Brady, caught two passes for 15 yards and dropped the third. What do the Patriots have in store for Cooks? We’ll find out Thursday night.
Regardless of how the season turns out for the Patriots, expect to see Cooks giving his all every game as he takes advantage of the unique opportunity he has to play with Brady and the Patriots.