AP photo New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman catches a pass against the Miami Dolphins in the second half of Sunday's 21-11 win over Miami.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Julian Edelman was another reliable target for his quarterback on Sunday.

Of course, that QB wasn’t Tom Brady, but new New England Patriots starter Cam Newton. Edelman and his new QB were playing together for the first time but you wouldn’t have known it as he had five catches for 57 yards in the Patriots’ 21-11 season opening win over the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium.

His first of those catches, a 6-yarder from Newton, gave him 600 receptions in his career. He’s only the second Patriot to do so, with Wes Welker atop the leaderboard at 672.

“It was good to go out there and see what the 2020 team is about,” Edelman said. “We didn’t get to see that necessarily in our preseason against other people. It was definitley fun and something we can build off of.”

Edelman said he enjoyed playing with Newton.

“He’s fun to play with,” he said. “I’m looking forward to compounding and building off this and fixing the things we didn’t necessarily do well and adding to the things that we did do well and keeping it going.”

Edelman also had a 23-yard run that turned into a 38-yard gain due to a late hit by Miami out of bounds to highlight the game-clinching drive in the fourth quarter.

“It was a counter-end and no one was there,” he said. “I tried to get up field and make some yardage and try to get out of bounds, and he hit me late.

“It was something that our coaches probably were keen on seeing how we were handling things here and there with certain motions and that was a good play call by Coach (Josh) McDaniels and the team.”

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While Sunday was a special day for Newton, it was also a special day for Patriots center David Andrews, who missed last year with blood clots in his lungs. Newton, after his second TD, gave Andrews the ball to spike.

“It was awesome,” Andrews said. “And you know you have to love watching that guy play the game and seeing all the work that he has put in. … We had some fun out there today.”

“He was the first person I saw, and I knew he would enjoy that,” Newton said. “Dave is a person who was kind of in my boat, a person that has been out of football, and for him to enjoy that just as much as I’ve been enjoying just being a witness of how he works, how he, his whole presentation, how he sows up each and every day, how he practices.”

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Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick lamented his three interceptions (by Patriots Stephon Gilmore, Adrian Phillps and J.C. Jackson) that aided the Patriots win.

“You can’t do that and win games in the National Football League,” he said. “We’re going against the Patriots, you know you have to take advantage of the possessions you get. … I’ve got to do a better job. We’ve got to find a way to get it done.”

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Speaking of needing to do a better job, the Patriots signed placekicker Nick Folk off the practice squad on Saturday, but he didn’t exactly reward them. Folk clearly mishit a very makeable 45-yard field goal attempt in the first half.

“Just didn’t hit it right into that kind of wind,” Folk said. “It was just a little different down there. I just didn’t hit it super clean. But the extra points (he made all three), again, those aren’t gimmes anymore, so happy with those. Happy we got the win.”

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Patriots coach Bill Belichick honored the memory of the NFL’s first black coach, Fritz Pollard, by putting his name on his visor that he wore on the sidelines on Sunday. It was part of an NFL movement in which players and coaches were permitted to put a name on their helmets, etc.

“The criteria they talked about was somebody who had overcome discrimination and racism and certainly Fritz Pollard fits into that category,” Belichick said after the game. “So what he did, the courage that he showed as a player in the NFL and then later as a player/coach, and then later as – when he left the NFL, and then after the NFL banned all Black players in I think it was 1934, he continued to work with professional football teams, all-Black teams and have them compete and they did very well. They just weren’t in the National Football League. So, really honored to have worn this today. …”

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Belichick began his 46th career consecutive NFL season as a coach, passing Hall of Famer Dick LeBeau, who had 45, for the most consecutive seasons as an NFL coach…

Sony Michel scored on a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. New England is 10-1 when the third year back rushes for a touchdown….

Newton was the first Patriot quarterback who wasn’t drafted by the team to make a start since the immortal Scott Secules started vs. Indianapolis on Oct. 31, 1993…

Next up for the Patriots: At Seattle next Sunday night.