Patriots' Julian Edelman: Returns to practice

Edelman (foot/personal) returned to practice Thursday, WEEI.com reports.

Analysis:

Look for Edelman -- who was officially limited Thursday -- to continue to play through his foot issue, as he has been doing, on Sunday against the Rams. He'll continue to remain heavily targeted in the Patriots' offense moving forward, on the heels of back-to-back eight-catch efforts, fueled by a combined 28 targets over his last two games. News that tight end Rob Gronkowski will miss time shouldn't greatly affect Edelman's target volume (which is already high), though it should lead to more looks for the likes of Malcolm Mitchell and Danny Amendola, as the team figures to deploy more three-wideout sets down the stretch.