The 2025 Patriots have a long way to go when it comes to moving past back-to-back four-win seasons.
But after witnessing Patriots training camp firsthand last week, three-time Super-Bowl champion Julian Edelman likes what he sees from a revamped New England roster this summer.
Edelman, who was on the field in Foxborough during a physical padded practice on Aug. 4, said the team he witnessed last week was an improvement over a 2024 team that couldn’t gain any traction during a chaotic camp.
“Josh [McDaniels] looks like he has the offense going,” Edelman told former Patriots teammate Rob Gronkowski during the duo’s “Dudes on Dudes” podcast. “It seems like there’s a lot more cohesiveness this year. They look energized. I think Drake [Maye] looked really good. I mean, he was making it look easy. … That’s a sign of him looking good.
“Just operational, like getting the play in, getting the personnel groups in, getting the play call, identifying the defense, getting the cadence off, changing protection … like he had all that stuff, looked very good. The [TreVeyon] Henderson kid out of the backfield looked very good. Second-round pick at Ohio State, had a couple big plays. Looks smart, looks hungry.”
Even with a new head coach in Mike Vrabel now in place in Foxborough, Edelman said the return of McDaniels as offensive coordinator brought some semblance of familiarity to the team’s offensive schemes during camp — a sentiment that didn’t translate to last year’s camp under Jerod Mayo and Alex Van Pelt.
“It was cool to go to this year’s [camp] compared to last year’s, because I saw the system they were running, and I could do a plus-minus system in my head for each guy — instead of like last year when they’re running a completely different offense, West Coast. I didn’t know what was going on,” Edelman said. “So like, for me this year, just knowing the offense and seeing how they executed.
“I was like, man, a lot of guys were making plays. Pop Douglas made a couple plays. Six and nine — [Javon] Baker and [Kayshon] Boutte, they made a couple plays. They missed a couple plays too. But they have potential to be a competitive football team, and that would be a success. You got to manage your expectations when you had four wins last year.”
As Edelman noted, it remains to be seen if the Patriots can actually make a push for the postseason this season with Maye and Vrabel leading the charge.
But, as the Patriots try to take steps forward and try to establish a winning culture in 2025, Edelman was impressed with Vrabel’s efforts to set a new standard in Foxborough.
“I thought they looked like a professional football club,” Edelman told Gronkowski. “And that’s what you want to look like. No one was on the ground. It was a smooth practice.
“Everyone’s got excitement. Vrabel’s got high energy. He’s around everywhere. He’s in the offensive drills, banging around with dudes. It was fun.”
