Tom Brady Comments on Patriots Offense, Replacing Julian Edelman

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady improved his team's record to 9-0 in Week 10 with a game-winning drive against the New York Giants on Sunday, but it was a Pyrrhic victory of sorts for the reigning Super Bowl champions.

Brady saw his favorite receiver in Julian Edelman go down with a broken bone in his left foot, per ESPN.com's Mike Reiss, which may hinder the Pats' ability to guard the Lombardi Trophy. The signal-caller spoke to WEEI's Dennis, Callahan and Minihane podcast on Monday about how Edelman's absence will impact New England, per WEEI.com's Jerry Spar:      

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When someone's really integral to part of basically everything you're doing, and then you lose that person, it may take a little bit to kind of figure out how you can move things around and get comfortable with what you're doing, because you want to have a lot of confidence in the things that you're doing. That's just the way kind of it is. There's nothing that's really seamless when you lose a great player. When it's someone that's been the leading receiver on your team for multiple years and you lose them, it's not like you go, 'OK, well, let just put someone else in.' [Edelman]'s too good of a player for that.

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As for who can try to emulate Edelman's presence and production on the gridiron, Brady stated he has "a lot of confidence" in bigger-bodied target Brandon LaFell (6'3", 210 lbs) to pick up the slack. He also expressed optimism about Keshawn Martin, who's been dealing with a hamstring injury.

Brady emphasized also how Danny Amendola's role has been a lot different than that of Edelman's, even though he does have a reputation for being a slot weapon, as Edelman and Wes Welker have been for the Pats in the past.

The rest of Brady's message was essentially that he wouldn't make excuses for any playmakers being out and intimated the Patriots still need to find a way to be productive. ESPN's Mike Greenberg has his doubts as to whether Brady can pull that off:

Edelman is the ultimate possession receiver and is someone Brady turns to more often in critical situations than even superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski. The 29-year-old veteran amassed 61 receptions, 692 yards and seven touchdowns in 2015.

Not only has Edelman gone down in recent weeks, but New England also lost breakout stud running back Dion Lewis to a torn ACL in Week 9 against Washington. Lewis had 36 receptions as a pass-catching specialist and was an effective changeup to bruising ball-carrier LeGarrette Blount.

With an inexperienced, banged-up offensive line in front of him to account for as well, Brady has an even greater challenge to keep the Patriots undefeated and ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals for the AFC's No. 1 playoff seed.