Julian Edelman Placed on COVID-19 List Ahead of Patriots vs. Chargers

New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman has not played since Oct. 25 because of a knee injury, but the AFC East team will be without him in the immediate future for another reason as Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers approaches.

On Monday, Field Yates of ESPN reported that the Patriots placed Edelman on the reserve/COVID-19 list. 

The three-time Super Bowl champion has appeared in six games this year and has 21 catches for 315 yards and zero touchdowns. He was expected to be the team's go-to receiver coming into the season, but the injury held him back from that role.

On Wednesday, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick indicated to reporters that Edelman was getting closer to a return:

"I think Julian's definitely headed in the right direction. I spoke to him, and he's feeling better every day, confident, stronger.

"We'll just take it day by day. When he's ready to go, we'll put him out there. We don't want to rush it or put him out there and then there's a setback and then we run out of time. When he's ready, he'll be back out there. I know he's working very hard to get back out there as soon as he can."

Edelman is not the first player in New England to go on the reserve/COVID-19 list. 

Cam Newton and Stephon Gilmore were among the players who tested positive in October. ESPN's Dan Graziano reported Sunday that the NFL fined the organization $350,000 for COVID-19 protocol violations related to those positive tests. 

New England is 5-6 and two games behind the Indianapolis Colts for the final AFC playoff spot.