Julian Edelman Comments on His Role Against Bills in Week 4

On Wednesday, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman will serve as the team's backup quarterback if Jimmy Garoppolo or Jacoby Brissett can't play in Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills.

Edelman was evasive when reporters asked if he's been practicing at the position, however, per Florio:

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It’s a team policy that we’re not allowed to talk about where we’ve been practicing, but I can tell you that what we have been doing has been tough because of the opponent, the Buffalo Bills and coach [Rex] Ryan, and what he does, he does so much. It’s one of those things where we have to really tap in in the classroom and bring it to the grass in practice and translate that into regular drills, team drills, and all those types of things because we know it’s going to be against a tough opponent this week.

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Bills head coach Rex Ryan then jumped on the conference call under the alias "Walt Patulski of the Buffalo News"—which Edelman didn't realize at the time—and asked the receiver if he would play quarterback in the game.

"I'm going to do whatever the coaches ask me to do," Edelman responded. "If they ask me to go out and give a glass of water to someone on the sideline, I’m going to do that with a smile on my face if it helps our team win. You can ask Coach [Bill Belichick] that one.”

Here's the exchange, via the Bills:

Doug Kyed of NESN reported, "Edelman served as the Patriots' backup quarterback in Week 3, though neither he nor Bill Belichick would confirm that."

The 30-year-old has caught 18 passes for 180 yards this season. He does have experience at quarterback, as he played the position during his college days at Kent State. In his college career, he threw for 4,997 yards along with 30 touchdowns and 31 interceptions in three seasons.

He was also a threat on the ground in college, rushing for 2,483 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Playing Edelman at quarterback wouldn't be ideal for the Patriots, but neither was beginning the season with Garoppolo as the starter and then needing to play Brissett.

The Patriots are 3-0 regardless, and it's hard to imagine they wouldn't have a game plan in place catered to Edelman's abilities if he's forced into quarterback duty.

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