The New England Patriots opened their preseason finale against the New York Giants on offense, and third-string quarterback Jarrett Stidham had an impressive arsenal of wide receivers to work with: Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon and Demaryius Thomas all started the game. But while Gordon and Thomas went on to play 22 and 24 snaps, respectively, Edelman left the game just 5 snaps into his first preseason action due to injury.
The reigning Super Bowl MVP came down hard after his lone reception of the day and immediately looked at his left hand — the one that previously forced him to open training camp on the non-football injury list (NFI) because of a broken thumb. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, however, Edelman did not re-injury his thumb during his hard fall yesterday and that the situation is nothing more but a “minor scare.”
After all, the 33-year-old’s hand also is reportedly fine. Edelman went to the sidelines after the reception, took of his glove on his left hand, but did not seek further medical attention and remained on the sidelines for the rest of the game. The early indications were positive, and Rapoport’s report confirms this: Edelman will be fine moving forward, and anything but him starting next Sunday’s regular season opener would be a surprise.