Julian Edelman's dad on his son playing QB: 'I don't know how many picks he'd throw'
The New England Patriots are heading into Thursday night’s game against the Houston Texans with one fully healthy quarterback. That quarterback is rookie Jacoby Brissett, as Jimmy Garoppolo is dealing with a shoulder injury.
Brissett will likely get the start unless there’s a last-minute improvement in Garoppolo’s shoulder, but that’s unlikely. So who will back up Brissett? Quite possibly the team’s best wide receiver: Julian Edelman.
The Patriots have reportedly done extensive preparation to get Edelman ready as the emergency backup quarterback should Brissett get injured. He played quarterback in college, so it’s not completely ridiculous, but he’s a wide receiver – not a signal caller.
The odds of Edelman actually taking a snap under center in Week 3 are very low, but it’s certainly possible. And if it were to happen, his dad believes he’d be able to lead the offense. How well Edelman would play, however, is another question.
"Can Jules do it? Yeah, he could definitely do it,” Frank Edelman, Julian’s dad, said via ESPN. “But could he do it well? I'm just not sure. I don't know how many picks he would throw. I'll say this: He does know the offense like the back of his hand. That wouldn't be a problem."
Frank has the utmost confidence in his son’s ability to play quarterback after watching him do it for just about all of his football playing days. That doesn’t mean he’d like to see it happen, though. Frank Edelman said he’d be a “nervous wreck” if Bill Belichick were to put his son in at the game’s most important position.
He just doesn’t think it’s probable.
“I thought Brissett played pretty well last week. I mean, Jules could play a quarter or so and hang in there, and if anyone can do it, the Patriots can. I just don't see it."
Edelman’s dad believes Julian would stay between the hashes and wouldn’t throw “one ball to the outside.” That’s understandable, given the risk and required velocity to throw a pass towards the sideline. Even the best quarterbacks in the league get those passes picked off.
