Wes Welker suffers concussion in preseason game

[Uncle Rico]

...

It was a clean hit, and Wes had his head down going into Swearinger's shoulder. Swearinger could have put his hands out. But Manning threw the ball up enough that Wes really had no time at all to make that catch, feel the pressure and get down to avoid that hit.

...

Yup. People are coming down hard on Swearinger — while I understand he's hardly a saint, seemed to me he did the right thing on such a quick play. He had much less time to avoid contact than, say Wlker did when he took out Talib last year.

Denver Broncos WR Wes Welker gets injured - NFL.com Videos

Edit: Pic:

 

[luuked]

Supposedly, Wes never had a documented concussion with our team. Although hits like the one by Ryan Clark make me wonder how much happened undocumented..

 

[Gwedd]

It's Satan Manning's curse to be plagued by "liquored up kickers"

Damn, bro. Beat me to it. As soon as I read that article I knew what needed to be said.

 

[Rob0729]

Not a fan of Swearinger, but how else was he supposed to tackle Welker on that play? He led with his shoulder and Welker was already lower to the ground because of the way he caught the ball. I blame Manning more for throwing the ball to Welker in a place where he didn''t have time to protect himself. Three or four years ago, that hit would have been 100% legal and no foul would have been warranted.

 

[Haley]

This is the pic that was posted to the Broncos forum. They are complaining about the leading with the forearm hitting the head. It seems it no longer matters whether a receiver is defenseless or a hit was h2h.

Any hit to the head of a receiver this year will be called personal foul if the ref and announcers are correct.

 

[Rob0729]

Supposedly, Wes never had a documented concussion with our team. Although hits like the one by Ryan Clark make me wonder how much happened undocumented..

Welker had concussions with the Pats before the concussion protocols were in place. It is the way Welker plays. But Manning has a long history of ruining slot receivers and TEs by hanging them out to dry.

 

[patsinthesnow]

WR1: D. Thomas
WR2: Sanders
WR3: Latimer
TE: J. Thomas
RB: Ball

That offense is a shell of itself from last year. Do the right thing Welkah!

 

[Rob0729]

WR1: D. Thomas
WR2: Sanders
WR3: Latimer
TE: J. Thomas
RB: Ball

That offense is a shell of itself from last year. Do the right thing Welkah!

Latimer seems to be behind Andre Caldwell at this point. I think if Welker can't go, it will be Thomas and Caldwell outside and Sanders in the slot.

 

[Uncle Rico]

This is the pic that was posted to the Broncos forum. They are complaining about the leading with the forearm hitting the head. It seems it no longer matters whether a receiver is defenseless or a hit was h2h.

Any hit to the head of a receiver this year will be called personal foul if the ref and announcers are correct.

But if you watch the video — and see the moment-of-impact pic I posted above — he did not lead with his forearm. The picture Broncs' fans are citing is follow-through after the hit, Swearinger's elbow swinging out in a natural manner. But the hit was all shoulder/bicep.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

3rd in 10 games?

Actually, given Denver and how they lined up against us - and everybody, until choke-time - last year, my first reaction was a shameful "fine by me." Like I say, it's admittedly wrong and grotesque. But part of me is primitive enough that I just want my Pats to win, full stop, don't care how, and in part, er, didn't he cheap-shot Talib/serves him right.

So like I said, that reaction (above) is just plain wrong.

So here's the slightly less wrong reaction: Agree, there comes a time. Think about family and loved ones. Life > Football. It really, really, really is.

Wes has millions of bucks and everything going for him. He can just invest well and golf if he desires, or of course figure out his "life after football plan" if that seems too boring.

I fear for him because he is ringless. When you perceive yourself as having a shot at the ring, the choice becomes different. And I am sure he perceives himself as having a shot at the ring. Remember they went to the show last year, and think about the "climbing back up the mountain" theory that always pertains. I can easily see Wes thinking "It's taking a chance but the stats about concussions are inflated, and anyway I have the giant helmet... just this one more run."

 

[Haley]

But if you watch the video — and see the moment-of-impact pic I posted above — he did not lead with his forearm. The picture Broncs' fans are citing is after the hit, Swearigners' elbome swinging out in a natural manner. But the hit was all shoulder/bicep.

I'm not sure how you can end up concussed without a hit to the head. Here is the slo-mo video:



It looks to me like an elbow to the head in the video and the above pic is taken just after the hit happened but see what you think.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Latimer seems to be behind Andre Caldwell at this point. I think if Welker can't go, it will be Thomas and Caldwell outside and Sanders in the slot.

Interesting. This story has big implications because the Broncos would have a big downgrade at outside WR2 and a downgrade at slot WR. It would be a double whammy for an offense that primarily runs shotgun 3 WR sets.

D. Thomas v. Revis
A. Caldwell v. Browner/Butler
E. Sanders v. Dennard

The Denver WRs would have a long day.

 

[patriot lifer]

I respect the Broncos fans. A lot of them are saying that Welker should retire. Not all of them, but plenty of them. While our self-serving bias is for him to not play for the Broncos, their bias swings in the other direction.

Thread: Welker's concussion | Forums - DenverBroncos.com

Peyton only had Welker for one season, so it's not like he's dependent on him. That team is still stocked with receiving targets anyways, so it gives them time to adjust if it's truly the end.


Be well Welker.

 

[Peachhead]

I'm not sure how you can end up concussed without a hit to the head. Here is the slo-mo video:



It looks to me like an elbow to the head in the video and the above pic is taken just after the hit happened but see what you think.

Just the deceleration of the brain within the skull or someone's head bouncing off the ground can cause a concussion. Even without a direct helmet-to-helmet or forearm (or shoulder) to helmet hit.

That looked like a totally legit hit to me. And I'm a little surprised (and troubled) that Welker got a concussion on such a routine hit. Some people, after a while, become much more prone to concussions from any type of hit. I fear this is what has happened to Welker. What's next, a concussion from a TD celebration? Like everyone else has said, time for him to retire. Especially with the recent focus on ALS, I'm already quite worried about Welker's life after football.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

WR1: D. Thomas
WR2: Sanders
WR3: Latimer
TE: J. Thomas
RB: Ball

That offense is a shell of itself from last year. Do the right thing Welkah!

Sanders would be in the slot

 

[50-yard-line]

Wes Welker's one and only goal is to win a Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots - espnBoston (September 7, 2012)

"And, yet, his one-year franchise tender for $9.25 million suggests a veteran receiver with a history of concussions (at least four, probably more) who has no job security beyond this year, who watched his team reward younger tight ends (Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski) with contracts that afforded them the financial status and security Welker was seeking."​

Jackie McMullen has been asking him to retire for years now.

Welker wasn't the same after his first (known) concussion last year - his numbers fell off a cliff, iirc. When he got the second cuncussion last year and had to miss a few, I was hoping he'd retire at the end of the season at least.

Now this. At some point, it just isn't worth it. Welker was one of my favorite players (Patriots) ever, and it would break my heart to see him clearly debilitated in a few years. And yeah, playing with Peyton isn't going to help the situation - he plays this year and he'll get another, maybe more than one more, severe concussion, almost without a doubt.

 

[mayoclinic]

I'm not sure how you can end up concussed without a hit to the head. Here is the slo-mo video:



It looks to me like an elbow to the head in the video and the above pic is taken just after the hit happened but see what you think.

That's the thing. It's scary to me how Welker ended up with a concussion on that play. It wasn't anything particularly egregious - just a solid hit that would have been perfectly legal in the past, and not that much direct contact to the head. As Peachhead notes, it was probably the deceleration impact more than anything that resulted in the concussion. If that hit gives Welker a concussion, I really question whether he should be taking NFL contact.

 

[Ring 6]

I'm not sure how you can end up concussed without a hit to the head. Here is the slo-mo video:



It looks to me like an elbow to the head in the video and the above pic is taken just after the hit happened but see what you think.

It looks like his head hitting the ground was a stronger impact than the defender hitting him. Concussions are often caused by impact of head to ground.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

By the way, doesn't Prater's suspension mean he's ineligible for the Pro Bowl?

 

[Tunescribe]

While our self-serving bias is for him to not play for the Broncos

I think most if not all of us here are concerned for his health above all else. His prospective exit from the Manning Machine would be welcome, but that's a distant second in terms of priorities.