By Patriots' standards, it's been a relatively tumultuous offseason. There were reports that Rob Gronkowski might be traded, as well as friction between Bill Belichick and Tom Brady and his personal trainer, Alex Guerrero. But Gronk remains and Belichick and Brady seem to be the same guys who previously helped the franchise to five Super Bowl titles.
There's also Julian Edelman, one of Brady's favorite receivers, who will miss the first four games of the regular season for violating the league's PED policy. On Saturday the Boston Globe's Ben Volin asked Brady about a possible connection between Edelman and Guerrero, who is also Brady's business partner.
Tom Brady asked about people connecting Edelman’s positive PED test to Alex Guerrero.
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) July 28, 2018
“I have no comment. That’s just ridiculous. I’m out.” pic.twitter.com/jxKrJKylJ9
"I have no comment," Brady said. "That's just ridiculous. I'm out."
Edelman, who tore his ACL in August 2017, worked with Guerrero during his rehabilitation. In June, Guerrero denied playing a role in Edelman's suspension and criticized anyone who suggested otherwise.
"I've known Julian since his rookie year and he is a phenomenal athlete who takes his training seriously -- it's disappointing to hear today's news. Elite athletes sometimes work with multiple coaches and health professionals as part of their training," Guerrero said at the time. "Here at our facility, we take a natural, holistic, appropriate and, above all, legal approach to training and recovery for all of our clients. And anyone who would suggest otherwise is irresponsible, and just plain wrong."
And days before Guerrero's remarks, Edelman praised his TB12 method for helping with his recovery.
"Yeah, I mean, everyone's a competitor. So sometimes you're your own worst enemy when you're trying to do that," Edelman said. "But it is what it is, and there's a big part of the process and I've got a lot of guys, training staff helping me out -- TB12, all that stuff -- to get to where I want to be."
We'll have to wait until Week 5, when the Patriots host the Colts in a nationally televised game, to see Edelman again catching passes from Brady in a regular-season game. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how Brady addresses future questions about Guerrero. Because you know they're coming.