Bennett couldn't have made it more clear how much he respects the 5-foot-10 spark plug.
"I mean Julian brings it every single week," Bennett said. "We know what we're getting out of him. He's never backed down from a fight. He knows that we'll always have his back. That's Julian.
"When I see Julian Edelman, I just see Julian Edelman. A lot of times when you see a small white guy, you want to call him Wes Welker or something like that. But that's Julian being Julian. So, he's making a name for himself. So, the next small white guy comes in he's going to be called the 'Julian Edelman' of the NFL. He's been doing a great job."
Bennett sees someone who embodies what the Patriots are all about, someone who won't back down.
"I love playing with him," Bennett said. "He's a guy that you want to go to battle with every single week. He just brings it every single week."
Bennett also trusts Edelman not to cross the line, like in the fourth quarter when T.J. Ward flexed his muscles to the Patriots sideline after a big hit on Edelman. Ward took a 15-yard penalty but Edelman started to get in Ward's face. It didn't escalate to offsetting penalties on a clock-killing drive because the Patriots had Edelman's back and stepped in.
"I just thought, 'idiot,'" Bennett said of Ward, "but in that situation Julian doesn't want to back down so we just have to take care of our own and make sure that we don't get an off-setting penalty because that's a big play for us in that period of time. We were smart about it."
"We're never going to do something stupid but we're never going to back down to somebody that tries to get up in our face or something like that," added Chris Hogan. "That's the type of team we are and we're going to be behind him 100 percent. I'm pretty sure the whole team is probably right there behind him. We've got each other's backs."
Hogan told me that, in no uncertain terms, Edelman leads the Patriots receiving corps. Sunday was just another example.
"He's the leader of our room," Hogan said. "I thought he played amazing today. It was one of those games where was making some tough catches and getting hit a lot. Every single week, he makes plays, man. We look for him to make plays because he's a big part of our offense. He just does it every single week. I just think he's a great receiver."