Julian Edelman is speaking out about his former coach Bill Belichick and his girlfriend Jordon Hudson — again.
The retired New England Patriots wide receiver is revisiting the remarks he made last week regarding the 73-year-old University of North Carolina coach and his 24-year-old girlfriend, and is reevaluating a relationship that he now calls “a distraction.”
“The No. 1 thing we used to talk about all the time in New England was distractions,” Edelman, 38, said in a guest spot on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Wednesday, May 7. “Let’s not make distractions. The game’s already as hard as it is. To prepare for it, to play, to coach.”
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He continued, referring to Hudson’s now-infamous interjection from the sidelines during Belichick’s CBS Sunday Morning interview: “Anytime we do behind-the-scenes this, that, you’ve got someone that represents you, they’re gonna jump in, but now that it’s gained and it’s snowballed to what it’s become right now, where we’re talking about it three weeks later, it’s becoming a distraction. That’s what we all think right now. This is becoming a distraction. We gotta practice what we preach here.”
Edelman’s turnabout comes one week after he rallied behind the coach — for whom he played the entirety of his 12-year career — alongside former teammate Rob Gronkowski on their Dudes on Dudes podcast.
“When you look at this situation and you say, ‘This is his girlfriend jumping in,’ I think that’s unfair,” Edelman said, referring to the pushback regarding Hudson’s behavior during the CBS interview. “I think she’s actually working with Coach Belichick in the professional world.”
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Earlier this week, a source told PEOPLE that the relationship between the former college cheerleader and the former NFL coaching legend “is real” on a personal level as well.
They share the “same interests” and “enjoy being together,” said the insider. “He is extremely private and anything she can do to keep that vibe is fine with him. He wants that.”
Hudson is “assertive, smart and ambitious,” added the source, noting that the Maine native “will always do whatever she can to make him look good.”
Related: Bill Belichick’s Kids Hope His Relationship with Jordon Hudson Is a ‘Good Choice’ (Exclusive Source)
As Belichick embarks on his first season at North Carolina, Edelman, however, believes the focus should be on the goings-on on the field.
“When it comes down to running a football organization and playing football, let’s make the main thing the main thing,” he said to host Cowherd.
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