With a Stefon Diggs trade rumor swirling the Internet, Julian Edelman isn't the slightest bit concerned.
The star wide receiver said Friday morning he's focused on himself and what he can do to help the Patriots improve on offense.
"I am just worried about me and what I need to do to help this team," Edelman told WEEI's The Greg Hill Show. "That is not part of my job is to think those things or do those types of things. I can only worry about what I can control, and what I can control is how I prepare and how I go about my work. That is what I am focused on. We got the players in the room that I think, ‘Hey, we’ll be alright.’ That is not my call, or anything like that.”
Game preparation and improvement starts in practice, and Edelman harped on the importance of practicing hard.
“My message is usually just kind of go out and grind it out," Edelman said. "You just don’t do it in games, we got to go and we’ve got to do it in practice. We’ve got to practice hard because that is where your confidence comes from. It comes from your preparation — knowing our assignments, eliminating little dumb things like offsides here, there, doing things that we can control. When you do that and you put yourself in that position you usually put yourself in a position to have more success than when you don’t.”
The Pats are set to face the struggling Washington Redskins Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on the road, and the team is expected to have a huge game offensively. The Redskins' defense has allowed nearly 400 yards and 30-plus points per game this season, so Tom Brady and his receivers shouldn't have a problem putting up points.
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.