Report - Wes Welker to miss rest of season
Wes Welker, after suffering his second concussion of the season against Tennessee on December 8th, might sit out the rest of the season.
ESPN.com:
Denver Broncos receiver Wes Welker is expected to be held out of the team's final two regular-season games as he recovers from two concussions in a span of three weeks.
Denver might be acting cautiously by keeping him out for the rest of the season, but beyond MVP candidate Peyton Manning, Welker is the player the Broncos cannot afford to lose for an extended stretch of time.
The Manning-Welker connection is a powerful one, with Manning finding Welker 73 times for 10 touchdowns. Those are impressive numbers by itself, but the real kicker is that Welker is Manning's favorite chain mover: he has caught 49 passes for first downs, which equates to a staggering 67%. It's no secret that Denver has a high powered offense, and surely Manning's other weapons (Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Julius Thomas) will step up in Welker's absence, but given Welker's track record with the Patriots in previous years, it's clear his penchant for snagging passes for first downs are a definable skill. However, it helps that Denver isn't facing much opposition the rest of the regular season (at Houston and at Oakland) and if they win out, the Broncos earn another week of rest for the entire team because they earned a bye for the first week of the playoffs.
Beyond Welker's injuries woes affecting the Broncos, it also affects the Patriots, both in a direct and indirect way. The direct way, quite obviously, is if Welker is unfit to go for the playoffs, that gives New England one less weapon to worry about if these two teams were to meet in the post-season. The indirect (and more interesting) way this affects New England is it adds another dimension to the off-season debate of the decision to let him hit free agency.
The Patriots can say all they want about "wanting him back" for this season, but it's pretty clear that the Welker era ran its course in New England. Statistically speaking, the production Welker left has been picked up this season - but by Julian Edelman, not the Patriots' off season signee (and assumed Welker successor) Danny Amendola. Amendola has played fine during his tenure (although he has been hampered by injuries also) but the Patriots believed Welker was too injury prone to be a reliable investment in the future. It was a bold move, injuries can happen at anytime, and letting him go to one of your toughest competitors in the AFC had "backfire" written all over it. But if Welker is unfit to go for the playoffs and it affects either the Patriots' or Broncos' chances, it will add another interesting wrinkle to an already hot Boston sports debate.
Photo via espn.com
