Calvin Munson channeled his inner Julian Edelman on Friday night -- with a few slight differences.
The New England Patriots' backup linebacker notched an acrobatic interception of Tennessee Titans quarterback Malik Willis in the first quarter of Friday's preseason finale at Nissan Stadium. The ball bounced off the hands of a Titans receiver, and Munson showed impressive concentration to corral the ball just before it hit the turf.
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After the game, a reporter informed Munson his diving grab was being compared to another ricochet reception -- Julian Edelman's improbable catch in Super Bowl LI that helped the Patriots pull off the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.
Munson's reaction? Disbelief.
"That's a crazy comparison," Munson said in his postgame press conference. "The weight of the game and the type of catch -- I don't know. I don't know who compared that."
Sure, one happened in the first quarter of a meaningless preseason game and the other happened in the fourth quarter of a gotta-have-it drive in the Super Bowl. And sure, the ball seemed to ricochet right into Munson's hands, while Edelman launched himself between three Atlanta Falcons defenders to make one of the best catches in NFL history. But give yourself a little credit, Calvin.
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Munson had plenty else to be proud of Friday; he led the Patriots with 10 total tackles and added a pass breakup and a tackle-for-loss as the team's most active defender. The 28-year-old is on the roster bubble and likely would be a special teamer if he makes the team -- our Phil Perry had Munson as the last man in on special teams in his latest 53-man roster projection -- but he certainly put his best foot forward in Nashville.
"I feel like someone in my position, almost every game I’ve got to try to do the best I can and make a statement," Munson said. "Sometimes you come out of the game and feel like you didn't really do as much as you think you could have. So tonight, I just wanted to do the best I can and leave it up to them."
Munson will learn his fate this coming Tuesday, when teams need to trim their rosters from 90 players to 53.