Julian Edelman responds to Keyshawn Johnson's criticism about Patriots receivers

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There are always going to be critics, no matter how successful you are.

That’s what the New England Patriots’ receiving corps is experiencing in the days leading up to Super Bowl LI.

Former Pro-Bowl wide receiver, Keyshawn Johnson, recently called out the group and said that they wouldn’t make other teams’ 53-man rosters.

"When you see guys that fail and play for other teams at the receiver position, they can go to New England and excel and everybody goes, "Oh my God, Oh my God, these receivers are top of the game,'” he told 92.9 “The Fan” in Atlanta, "Well, they couldn't excel with other teams because of the system. If they were on other teams right now, they probably wouldn't be on the 53-man roster."

Julian Edelman responded to the criticism with an interesting comment of his own.

“What did you say, who? Oh, Keyshawn. Isn’t he the disgruntled neighbor that like was waving down Beiber or something. Oh, that’s cool,” he said with a wink.

He was referring to an event in which Johnson was said to have confronted Bieber for driving recklessly.

Edelman then added, “I’m not worried about what people are saying, I’m worried about what other people are doing. Week in and week out, we ignore the noise and just try to hunker down on preparation and on going out and trying to play our best games on Sundays.”

Safety Duron Harmon was even quicker to defend his guys.

“Whether he thinks our receivers wouldn’t crack a 53 or not, I’m taking my receivers over a lot of receivers because they come up and make big plays in big moments each and every week,” he said, “They study. They prepare. I love our receivers. I love competing against them. They help me get better. So whatever as far as what Keyshawn has to say, he has his opinion but I know what I see.”

And what the Patriots’ see is one common goal – winning. They’re focused on “one more,” and no outside noise or criticism is going to distract them.

Follow Megan on Twitter: @carnahanmegan