Wes Welker...I'm confused

[Deus Irae]

• Welker missed somwehere between 3 days and a week of camp (for what I believe was a death in the family).

You left this out and I think it is a something that is being missed.

Also you might want to include this

• Edelman has a great training camp and beats out two Vets Branch and Gaffney for number 3 WR

The reason I think those are 2 key points is so I can now throw my opinion in the mix. And to try and keep it somewhat fact based I will just say it this way.

What seems more likely Wes was being punished and Edelman being rewarded or the Patriots are paying Wes 9 mil to be the back up for one year while they prove they can replace him?

Now I full realize that my opinion is just that as I dont have the facts but I would contend it is much more logical to think he was being punished rather than phased out.

When has BB ever doled out such a "punishment" before? This is the same coach who was going to let Brian Waters skip all of camp.

I'm not saying you're right, or wrong, and this was part of the preseason speculation I noted in that post of mine, but this would seem to be a major departure, if true.

 

[BananaRepublican]

Hopefully, Edelman and Hernandez will return and be blended into the current system rather than the team trying to force the change on the offense yet again.

Yep, and now they may be able to roll out a different offense on a situational basis, which would make them very tough to game plan. I'm not sure how practical that is, but they seem to have made the transition pretty well this time. In a way the injury may have been the best thing for the team.

 

[goheels22002]

What seems more likely Wes was being punished and Edelman being rewarded or the Patriots are paying Wes 9 mil to be the back up for one year while they prove they can replace him?

Punished? For what? For signing his tender and hoping a long-term deal could be worked out by the middle of July or whenever the franchise tag could be lifted? Why would anyone in his right mind pay $9.5 million to sit somebody?

The Titans game was a non-factor because Welker was out for a death in the family, as you pointed out. After that, it was much more about installing this offense in such a way that it did not rely so much on Welker, if you ask me. Bedard's expose on the no-huddle made it even more clear to me that Welker, as a known commodity was not featured early so they could get LLoyd integrated into the offense. Brady repeatedly threw to LLoyd when he was not open to give him a feel for the offense and to create some live action chemistry.

Coming back to Welker as option #1 was part of strategy, I think. Hernandez going down followed by Edelman just accelerated the process.

 

[BSR]

Punished? For what? For signing his tender and hoping a long-term deal could be worked out by the middle of July or whenever the franchise tag could be lifted? Why would anyone in his right mind pay $9.5 million to sit somebody?

The Titans game was a non-factor because Welker was out for a death in the family, as you pointed out. After that, it was much more about installing this offense in such a way that it did not rely so much on Welker, if you ask me. Bedard's expose on the no-huddle made it even more clear to me that Welker, as a known commodity was not featured early so they could get LLoyd integrated into the offense. Brady repeatedly threw to LLoyd when he was not open to give him a feel for the offense and to create some live action chemistry.

Coming back to Welker as option #1 was part of strategy, I think. Hernandez going down followed by Edelman just accelerated the process.

This is the simplest, most obvious and sensible explanation. Unfortunately it interferes with peoples agenda and/or conspiracy theories. Since we will never have a definitive answer I'm afraid some people will never believe you.

 

[51Hits]

Does anyone think this has anything to do with Brady getting comfortable with receivers?

For some reason, he seems to be holding onto the ball more this year (with hernandez out, its declined a bit) I'm starting to worry myself if Brady is actually depending on guys to get open rather than finding the open guy like he used to.

Regarding Wes, watching him the last 3 weeks I'd say he's fine. Regarding his contract...I've banged my head against a wall enough times pretending to understanding what the Pats are thinking. I'll simply sit back and let it play out rather than waste my time saying what I think I know.

Going back to what I was originally saying, I almost dare say the Hernandez injury did this team some good, it made Brady wake the F up and throw to someone else besides the TE.

EDIT

This is the simplest, most obvious and sensible explanation. Unfortunately it interferes with peoples agenda and/or conspiracy theories. Since we will never have a definitive answer I'm afraid some people will never believe you.

I didn't see this post before mine. Obviously, I agree.

 

[Deus Irae]

Punished? For what? For signing his tender and hoping a long-term deal could be worked out by the middle of July or whenever the franchise tag could be lifted? Why would anyone in his right mind pay $9.5 million to sit somebody?

The Titans game was a non-factor because Welker was out for a death in the family, as you pointed out. After that, it was much more about installing this offense in such a way that it did not rely so much on Welker, if you ask me. Bedard's expose on the no-huddle made it even more clear to me that Welker, as a known commodity was not featured early so they could get LLoyd integrated into the offense. Brady repeatedly threw to LLoyd when he was not open to give him a feel for the offense and to create some live action chemistry.

Coming back to Welker as option #1 was part of strategy, I think. Hernandez going down followed by Edelman just accelerated the process.

This would make sense if it weren't for the Edelman factor.

 

[signbabybrady]

When has BB ever doled out such a "punishment" before? This is the same coach who was going to let Brian Waters skip all of camp.

I'm not saying you're right, or wrong, and this was part of the preseason speculation I noted in that post of mine, but this would seem to be a major departure, if true.

I might be wrong but I actually thought BB benched Seymour for taking to much time when a family member passed as well. And I thought this rumor was supposedly the start of the turmoil between Sey and the team.

For the record I dont think he is benching them for attending a funeral but rather for missing time and more likely for missing more time then he feels was needed. And maybe punishment is a harsh word maybe just playing the guys who were practicing is a better way of putting it. I really think more than anything Edelman was being rewarded for the time he put in during the offseason and preseason juxtaposed with Wes who missed camps and took off time in preseason to attend to personal matters.

Personally I think this whole story is blown out of proportion but if I had to make guesses phasing out Wes to prepare for life when he leaves would not be one of them and a one or two week punishment would seem more logical to me.

And lastly this is just a guess on what he could possibly be punishing him for. It could be anything but to be clear I highly doubt he is punishing him or anyone for the way a contract was negotiated.

 

[goheels22002]

This would make sense if it weren't for the Edelman factor.

I don't think Edelman's reps in weeks 1 and 2 were part of some scheme to diminish Welker's role.

Week 1 was about Wes not being there for three days leading up to the game, and we've seen countless times that Belichick does not play guys who do not practice and have the preparation for that week's opponent.

Week 2 was a push - Edelman and Welker both caught five balls in that game and it seemed like they were ramping up the hurry up against a team they figured they would defeat. My recollection of that game was that Lloyd was repeatedly targeted - he made 8 receptions - even when the opening just wasn't there. It felt like the plan was to force it to Lloyd to get him off to a good start with Brady. It was not about diminishing Welker's role.

In the Baltimore and subsequent games, it returned to finding the open man. If I had a complaint about the Ravens game it was the use of Woodhead and a couple of doomed trick plays.

Whatever. I hope Hernandez is back against Seattle and gets some of Welker's reps for 100 plus yards so we can debate this some more next week.

 

[Deus Irae]

I don't think Edelman's reps in weeks 1 and 2 were part of some scheme to diminish Welker's role.

Week 1 was about Wes not being there for three days leading up to the game, and we've seen countless times that Belichick does not play guys who do not practice and have the preparation for that week's opponent.

Week 2 was a push - Edelman and Welker both caught five balls in that game and it seemed like they were ramping up the hurry up against a team they figured they would defeat. My recollection of that game was that Lloyd was repeatedly targeted - he made 8 receptions - even when the opening just wasn't there. It felt like the plan was to force it to Lloyd to get him off to a good start with Brady. It was not about diminishing Welker's role.

In the Baltimore and subsequent games, it returned to finding the open man. If I had a complaint about the Ravens game it was the use of Woodhead and a couple of doomed trick plays.

Whatever. I hope Hernandez is back against Seattle and gets some of Welker's reps for 100 plus yards so we can debate this some more next week.

Edelman was in for the 2 TE, 2 WR sets, while Welker was on the sidelines. Of course that's a scheme to diminish Welker's role. This was even specifically discussed by McDaniels, although it was phrased as substitutions based on formations and the like.

 

[Deus Irae]

Comment from Pete Carroll:

Q: How do you defend the little guys?

PC: Try to stay in front of them as long as we can. Nobody can defend the guys – I know you’re talking about Wes [Welker] – there’s nobody that defends him. He catches balls on everybody; that’s how you get 120 a year or whatever the heck he’s getting. We’re just going to try tackling him, hopefully get him down when he catches the ball. He’s going to catch a bunch I think. We’re going to try tackling and not let him catch and run it too far. It doesn’t sound like we have much of a chance does it? [laughter] These guys are so good, it’s pretty hard.

Seahawks: Pete Carroll Conference Call Transcript

 

[BrickPat]

The real test in assessing Welker's role on the team will occur when JE returns...if he takes Welker's snaps no amount of fanboy spin will be able to hide the elephant in the room.