PATRIOTS WIDE RECEIVER JULIAN EDELMAN
Q: What could the potential addition of a guy like Eric Decker mean to this team?
JE: I think we're more worried about what we've got going on right now, right here. He's a good player and if he is, it is. I haven't seen anything. Mostly just focused on trying to go out here and get our unit to do better and focus on the little things such as lining up right, or not jumping offsides, and getting my route dips right along with the other guys in the room. So if he comes, he comes. If he doesn't, he doesn't. I'm worried about [Chris] Hogan, Malc [Malcolm Mitchell], Phil [Dorsett], little Honey Nut [Braxton] Berrios, Riles [Riley McCarron], Dev [Devin Lucien], PT [Paul Turner], CP [Cordarrelle Patterson] and KB [Kenny Britt]. That's who I'm going to worry about.
Q: Did you get Tom Brady something for his birthday?
JE: Um, I did not give him anything for his birthday yet. It's hard to shop for a guy who has everything.
Q: What have you noticed from working with Cordarrelle Patterson?
JE: You know, he's a great guy to be around. He works hard, he's very athletic and he definitely helps push the unit so I'm happy we got him. He's going to contribute in a whole different other way. He's very versatile and just from his track record, I'm glad we have him.
Q: I know last week when you spoke you said you felt good but were still being mindful of your knee. How has this week felt?
JE: It's been a grind. Honestly just trying to get your legs to - you're compounding day after day after day after day. When you're working in the offseason, you may put three together - I think we're on what, eight today? So you're always trying to go out and get better and I have to do a lot better. I feel like I got to get my legs under me a lot more. I don't have my camp legs, I don't have football legs and it's evident out there. You get tired, you create bad habits, you don't run your routes right and you get yelled at in meetings for it. I'm expecting to do that because I got to pick it up. I wasn't as good as I want to be today and feeling that's because I'm not in the best shape right now.
Q: Is there anything you can do to get that shape back?
JE: You just keep on going out and you grind. You keep on when you're tired, when you don't feel well. You got to be able to perform when things aren't going great and that's what this does. That's what eight days in a row does and that's what going out in training camp - there's no light at the end of the tunnel right now. You got to go out and embrace it and take advantage of each day.
Q: Are you anxious to get to a preseason just to test it out even further?
JE: Definitely. You know, when it comes, it comes, but ultimately I'm more anxious to see how I feel tomorrow and what I can do and go from there.
Q: Every year in camp you celebrate Tom's birthday. Do you think he likes the attention and having it so public like this every year?
JE: I don't know, I don't think - he's really kind of a dorky, like shy guy so I don't know if he likes it or if he doesn't. But, you know when you're singing "Happy Birthday" to Brady you know it's football season.
Q: How incredible is it just to see Brady perform at such a high level at age 41?
JE: I mean, it's very incredible. You know, we're not that young anymore. Wedding crashers. It's - you know, he's the GOAT [Greatest of All Time].
Q: What's it like working with Berrios and McCarron?
JE: Honey Nut? Honey Nut Berrios?
Q: Is it like looking at yourself 10 years ago when you see those guys?
JE: You know, little things you do see. Just the confusion or you know - I mean you got to think about it. You're a young guy and you're going into a whole new system, you're going into a whole new part of the country you probably haven't been. You know, you got to learn calculus when you just got out of regular math. So you definitely can relate to a lot of those things and try to help them out as much as possible to get them to feel a little more comfortable. And I think that's what we all try to do. We all try to learn from each other and help each other out and that's - as a veteran that's what you got to do I guess.
Q: Did you ever feel really comfortable or do you always feel like you're fighting for a roster spot, even at this point in your career?
JE: I put at the top of my paper every day, "Never comfortable." It's just how I feel always. There's a lot of crazy stuff in this league and you got to go out and you got to earn your role out every year. So there is no comfort level here and you learn that from the top. Coach [Bill] Belichick's never really comfortable. At least he doesn't look it. Or sound like it. But, I don't like that - to feel comfortable. That's how complacency kicks in.
Q: Isaiah Wynn's catch the other night - is that the new, "The Catch?"
JE: Sure. Good catch. Good catch.
Transcripts are provided by the Patriots media relations department as a courtesy to the media and are edited for readability. All press conferences are posted and archived in their entirety at patriots.com.
