The New England Patriots are headed off to the playoffs once again! But this time they’ll be without one of their most valuable players this season, wide receiver Julian Edelman.

The Patriots have made it to the playoffs eight out of the past nine seasons.

Edelman was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday after suffering a season-ending foot injury two days earlier when the Patriots faced the Dolphins.

This foot injury came at a tough time for Edelman, who had been playing his best football in his 4 years as a Patriot.

“Edelman had been playing so good! It stinks that now he can’t be out there during the playoffs!” said FHS senior Marissa Harrington.

Edelman recently scored four touchdowns in a two-game stretch and is second in the NFL with a 15.5-yard average on punt returns.

He had a career-high 222 yards of total offense in a 59-24 win over the Colts on Nov. 18. During the next game, on Thanksgiving Day against the Jets, Edelman added two more touchdowns.

“It’s sad that Edelman had just come back from a concussion and he was doing so good, and now he’s done for the rest of the season” said FHS senior Kathryn Mason.

A lot of fans are very upset about Edelman being out for the season, especially since he’s in the final year of the contract he signed as a rookie and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.

“Hopefully the Patriots are smart and keep him after the season is done.” said FHS junior Kelsey Porter.

With Edelman done for the season, the Patriots recently announced the signing of receiver Donté Stallworth, a nine-year veteran who was cut by the team during training camp.

“It’s gonna take some getting used to without him out on the field, and it might be tough, but I think they can pull it off and win on Monday!” said Harrington.

Will the Patriots be able to succeed without their some of their most valuable players? They are also without tight end Rob Gronkowski (forearm) for a few more weeks as well.

Edelman was helping fill the void in the offense that has been created by the injury to tight end Rob Gronkowski, and the Patriots definitely needed him while they wait for the Gronk’s return.

Now that they’ve lost Edelman too, the Patriots wide receiver Brandon Lloyd will have to step up on offense with Edelman out of the lineup

“I think the Patriots are smart enough to figure out how to keep playing well without him there, they’ve been doing good so far without Gronk so I think we’re gonna be okay” Mason said.

Now, the Patriots will be put to the test to see if they can succeed without Edelman for the rest of the season, starting at Monday night’s 8:30pm home game against the 11-1 Houston Texans.