Julian Edelman caught giving direct advice to one Patriots rookie
Williams is a talented prospect who has received praise throughout the offseason. Former five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. even went as far as tweeting out that Patriots fans "got a real one" with the third-round draft pick.
There is hope that he can make an impact on Day 1, serving as one of the team's top receiving options. No one knows about being a top receiving option in New England better than Edelman, who caught 620 passes for 6,822 yards and 36 touchdowns over a career that spanned 11 years.
He initially came into the league as a former quarterback at Kent State and worked his way up to becoming one of Tom Brady's most reliable receiving targets. The former longtime Patriot was caught sharing the things he's learned with Williams during the most recent episode of the Forged in Foxborough docuseries.
'I just always leaned on like preparation. If I dropped a ball, I'd go catch 500 balls before or after practice until I didn't drop a ball," Edelman told Williams.
Williams has the potential to be a productive receiver for the Patriots. His athleticism and ability to run after the catch make him a viable option to contribute in his first year. He was also viewed as one of the best pure separators in the 2025 NFL draft class.
Taking advice from a soon-to-be Patriots Hall of Famer isn't a bad place to start for the former Washington State standout.
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USA Today
13 minutes ago
- USA Today
Venus Williams wins again at 45 years old in magical night for tennis
The match was over, the smile was beaming and here was Venus Williams – the seven-time Grand Slam champion, the 45-year-old icon of tennis, the soon-to-be bride – telling jokes about health insurance. 'I had to come back because they informed me earlier this year I'm on COBRA,' she said, giggling through her on-court interview with Rennae Stubbs after a what-did-we-just-watch 6-3, 6-4 victory over world No. 35 Peyton Stearns at the Mubadala Citi DC Open. 'So I was like, 'I gotta get my benefits!' You guys know what it's like. I'm always at the doctor so I need this insurance.' It's a great line. And the funniest part about it is, when Williams entered this tournament as a wild card having not played on the WTA Tour since March 2024 and without winning an official match in 709 days, there was no clear reason why she would play at all. Williams admits that she holds her cards close to the vest on purpose. She never officially retired. She never closed the door. In her last few years on tour, the results weren't good. Injuries piled up, as they tend to do for athletes who approach their 40s. So was entering this tournament out of nowhere a one-off or a comeback? She wouldn't say. Who cares. What she produced was magical, even if it's just for one memorable night. 'There were so many times I wanted to coast and kind of chill,' Williams said. 'Do you know how hard it is to play tennis? You don't know how much work goes into this. It's 9-to-5 except you're running the whole time and then lifting weights and then you're repeating it the next day.' But her support team wanted her to play at least one more time. Her fiancé, the Danish-Italian actor Andrea Preti, had never seen her play. And my goodness did she deliver something special, the kind of thing only tennis can provide. Williams is not the oldest women's player to win a match on the WTA Tour. That would be Martina Navratilova winning a first-round match at Wimbledon in 2004. But given how little she had played recently and who she was up against Tuesday – a very good 23-year-old who wasn't even born when Williams won her fourth major at the 2001 US Open – it's arguably the most stunning result of the year in any sport. How did she do it? She served incredibly well with nine aces, executed an incredibly-aggressive game plan that made Stearns uncomfortable and baited her into too many unforced errors. Is it sustainable? We'll see. Williams plays the No. 5 seed, Magdalena Frech, on Thursday. The more important question is whether this win will encourage Williams to keep going and perhaps even request a wild card to the US Open, which would very likely be granted given her stature in the history of the sport. Had Williams been defeated soundly Tuesday, it might have been controversial to give a 45-year-old a pass into the US Open field. But now, it kind of seems like a no-brainer if that's what she wants to do. 'I'm just here for now, and who knows?' she said in her pre-tournament press conference. 'Maybe there's more. At the moment, I'm focused just on this. I haven't played in a year. There is no doubt I can play tennis, but obviously coming back to play matches, it takes time to get in the swing of things. I definitely feel I'll play well. I'm still the same player. I'm a big hitter. I hit big. This is my brand.' Everyone got a good laugh out of that, including Williams. But when she got out on the court, it turned out to be true. She hit big enough to knock the No. 35 player in the world off the court. She's probably not going to contend for another Grand Slam, but if you can do that, you belong. None of us are truly timeless, but Williams made a heck of an argument in the other direction Tuesday. At 45, she looked as fit and powerful as she had in years. Whether it's the beginning of something or one last hurrah before the end, the fact she was willing to put herself out there at all was a gift to tennis and fans who have watched her play pro tournaments for 31 years. Even if it's just for the health insurance, Williams' presence can still elevate a tennis tournament. And even if Tuesday was the last match she ever wins, delivering that moment was something everybody who cares about the sport should be thankful they got to witness.
Boston Globe
13 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Venus Williams, 45, notches first singles win in nearly two years at DC Open
The former No. 1-ranked Williams had not played singles in an official match since March 2024 in Miami, missing time while having surgery to remove uterine fibroids. She hadn't won in singles since August 2023 in Cincinnati. Until this week, she was listed by the WTA Tour as 'inactive.' 'It is not easy,' Williams said, 'to [come back] after all that time and play the perfect match.' Advertisement But backed by a crowd that clearly was there to see, and support, her at the hard-court tournament in the nation's capital, Williams showed glimpses of the talent she possesses and the skills she displayed while earning all of her Grand Slam titles: seven in singles, 14 in women's doubles — all alongside younger sister Serena — and two in mixed doubles. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'I wanted to play a good match,' she told the fans, then added a phrase that drew appreciative roars: 'and win the match.' Venus Williams after becoming the oldest WTA match winner since 2004: 'I had to come back for the insurance, because they informed me this year that I'm on cobra. So it's like, I got to get my benefits on' 😭😭😭😭 — The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) In Tuesday's second game, for example, Williams smacked a return winner to get things started, then delivered a couple of other big responses to break Stearns, a 23-year-old who won singles and team NCAA titles at the University of Texas and is currently ranked 35th. Advertisement In the next game, Williams sprinted forward to reach a drop shot and replied with a winner. Soon, she led 4-2, then was closing that set. She was accompanied by choruses of cheers. The first arrived when Williams walked out into the main stadium at the DC Open, a 7,000-seat arena that's more than twice as large as where she was for her doubles victory a day earlier. Another came when she strode from the sideline to the center of the court for the formality of the coin toss. The noise really reached a crescendo when Williams began hitting aces — at 110 miles per hour and faster — the way she used to. There also were moments where Williams — who said her fiancé was in the stands — looked as if it had been just as long as it actually has since she competed, including in the opening game, when she got broken at love this way: forehand wide, forehand into the net, forehand long, backhand long. At the end, it took Williams a bit of extra effort to close things out. She kept holding match points and kept failing to convert them. But eventually, on her sixth chance, Williams powered in a 112 mph serve that Stearns returned into the net. That was it: Williams smiled wide as can be, raised a fist and jogged to the net to shake hands, then performed her customary post-win pirouette-and-wave. She advanced to a second-round matchup against No. 5 seed Magdalena Frech, a 27-year-old from Poland. In other action Tuesday, Emma Raducanu handed No. 7 seed Marta Kostyuk a sixth consecutive loss by eliminating her 7-6 (4), 6-4. That set up a matchup between Raducanu and four-time major champion Naomi Osaka, who was a 6-2, 7-5 winner against Yulia Putintseva. Advertisement Two top men's seeds exited: Cam Norrie beat No. 2 Lorenzo Musetti 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, and No. 3 Holger Rune withdrew from the tournament because of a back injury. No. 4 seed Ben Shelton defeated Mackie McDonald 6-3, 6-4.
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
DC Open delight for tour veteran Venus Williams
Venus Williams has become the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match in professional tennis, delivering some of her familiar big serves and groundstrokes at age 45 while beating Peyton Stearns — 22 years her junior — 6-3 6-4 at the DC Open. This was the first singles victory for Williams in nearly two years and the only older woman to win a match was Martina Navratilova at 47 in 2004. The former No.1-ranked Williams had not played singles in an official match anywhere since March 2024 in Miami, missing time while having surgery to remove uterine fibroids. She hadn't won in singles since August 2023 in Cincinnati. Until this week, she was listed by the WTA Tour as "inactive." "It is not easy," Williams said, "to (come back) after all that time and play the perfect match." She didn't come to play, she came to SLAY 🔥@Venuseswilliams | #MubadalaCitiDCOpen — wta (@WTA) July 23, 2025 But backed by a crowd that clearly was there to see, and support, her at the hardcourt tournament in the nation's capital, Williams showed glimpses of the talent she possesses and the skills she displayed while earning all of her grand slam titles: seven in singles, 14 in women's doubles — all alongside younger sister Serena — and two in mixed doubles. "I wanted to play a good match," she told the fans, then added a phrase that drew appreciative roars: "and win the match." The first cheer for Williams arrived when she walked out into the main stadium, a 7000-seat arena that's more than twice as large as where she was for her doubles victory a day earlier. Another came when she strode to the centre of the court for the formality of the coin toss. There also were moments where Williams looked as if it had been just as long as it actually has since she competed, including in the opening game, when she got broken to love. At the end, it took her a bit of extra effort to close things out. She failed to convert numerous match points but eventually powered a serve that world No.35 Stearns returned into the net. It's like she never left 😮💨@Venuseswilliams defeats Stearns 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round in the United States capital.#MubadalaCitiDCOpen — wta (@WTA) July 23, 2025 Williams advances to a second-round match-up against fifth-seeded Pole Magdalena Frech while earlier on Tuesday, Emma Raducanu handed No.7 seed Marta Kostyuk a sixth consecutive loss, defeating her 7-6 (7-4) 6-4. This was the fifth tournament in a row where Kostyuk exited in the first round; she hasn't won a match since May 11 in Rome. The 46th-ranked Raducanu, who won the 2021 US Open, will face four-time major champion Naomi Osaka, a 6-2 7-5 winner against Yulia Putintseva, next. At the hardcourt WTA250 event in Prague meantime, Australia's Priscilla Hon was beaten 6-2 3-6 6-3 in the first round by Czech Barbora Palicova in a little over two hours.
