Patriots WR Julian Edelman to miss four games after appeal denied

New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman's appeal of his four-game suspension for violating the NFL's performance-enhancing drug policy was denied on Tuesday, ESPN reported.

Edelman's June 25 appeal was focused on the league's lack of recognition on what drug caused the positive test, and, according to ESPN, there was also a mishandling of the documentation and delivery of Edelman's test results.

The 32-year-old Edelman will miss the Patriots' season opener against the Houston Texans (Sept. 9), road games vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars (Sept. 16) and Detroit Lions (Sept. 23), as well as a home tilt against the Miami Dolphins (Sept. 30).

Edelman missed the entire 2017 season after suffering a torn ACL in an exhibition contest in August.

Edelman has been a favorite target of quarterback Tom Brady when healthy over the last several seasons. He caught 98 passes for a career-high 1,106 yards in 2016.

A converted college quarterback who was a seventh-round draft pick of New England in 2009, Edelman has recorded 425 receptions for 4,540 yards and 24 touchdowns in 103 career games.

The Patriots are already thin at wideout after trading Brandin Cooks to the Los Angeles Rams and seeing Danny Amendola sign with the Miami Dolphins in free agency.

New England added Jordan Matthews and Cordarrelle Patterson this offseason and selected Braxton Berrios in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft to join a depth chart that includes Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett, Malcolm Mitchell and Kenny Britt.

Mitchell, like Edelman, missed the entire 2017 season and has been limited to conditioning drills during the team's offseason program.