Dear Bill,
I'm sorry. I should refer to you as Mr. Belichick. I don't know you like that. I don't know you at all. So far be it from me, a lowly scribe, to get so familiar as to call you by your first name. You're a businessman, the ultimate businessman, in fact.
That's why I'm going get straight to the point. You're a no-nonsense kind of guy, and that resonates with me.
Could you please, pretty please with a cherry top, start Julian Franks Edelman at quarterback when your Patriots face the Bills in Week 4? Do it for the culture.
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You don't need us, the media nor the fans, to tell you this, but it'd make all the sense in the world, and even though you try to front like you don't have one, it'd warm a lot of folks souls too. I know it would mine. Deep, down inside, you know you care...a little. OK, maybe you don't, but still listen.
This isn't about me (I really hope you're still reading). It's about what's best for your football team, scoring points and winning football games in the National Football League.
Conventional wisdom would lead you to start backup Jimmy Garrapolo if he can go after suffering a right shoulder injury in Week 2 against the Dolphins. He's been the perfect sub for your main man Tom Brady (that suspension was a straight-up miscarriage of justice too by the way), completing 42 of 59 passes for 496 yards, four touchdowns and nary an interception in victories against the Cardinals and the Dolphins, but now that your No. 3 Florida/North Carolina State product Jacoby Brissett, who absolutely destroyed the Texans Thursday night, has a bad thumb, go ahead make your next move your best move and roll with your emergency signal-caller under center.
Here's why.
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Edelman isn't new to this. He's true to this.
You love versatile football players. That's why you most of your lineman who can play multiple positions along the defensive front.Edelman is no different on the other side of the ball.
He's a natural quarterback and an even better athlete. That's why you had confidence to take a flyer on him in the 7th round of the 2009 draft, hoping he could make the transition from quarterback to wide receiver. He's done all that and more, becoming Brady's favorite target not named Rob Gronkowski, amassing 345 catches for 3,614 yards and 21 scores. He's also a viable player on special teams, having returned four kicks for scores. That's why you love to involve him in the running game on end arounds. Fori hsi career he's averaging seven yards everytime he's handed the rock.
He laced cats for nearly 2,000 yards passing and 13 scores as a senior at Kent State.
Remember that warm fuzzies you got the first time you saw those clips?
We just want you to restore the feelings my boy.
Let's be real. You all are going to beat the Bills regardless. They're offense is in shambles an their defense is so dinged up it can't stop a nosebleed. You saw how the Jets torched them last Thursday. How one Earth would they prepare for a quarterback whose only game film dates back more than a half decade back in his college days. There'd be nothing more embarrassing than lighting up Rex Ryan's boys with Edelman under center. No high could be like the smug grin you shoot him when you two meet up to shake hands, following the game. You and your coaching staff could eat off those jokes all week in meetings. You live for stuff like this and you know it.
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Lastly, and I know this isn't of too much concern for you, this is the entertainment business, and in the words of the O'Jays, You gotta give the people what they want.
Fans were yearning to see Edelman against the Texans. You're already the GOAT, according to running back LeGarrett Blount. Allowing Edelman to do his thing at QB and trashtalk defensive lineman after every completion the way he does defensive backs after every reception would only add to your legend my boy.
Sincerely,
Nick Birdsong