14°c Light rain
13°c Rain
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Welker looks for single coverage in record book
Can become first receiver with five 100-catch seasons
the associated press archives Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker needs eight grabs Monday to set mark (CP)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Jerry Rice never did it. Neither did Marvin Harrison. On Sunday, Wes Welker takes his swing for it.
Just eight more catches and the New England Patriots standout receiver will achieve another of his many milestones that he insists he doesn't dwell on. He'll break a tie with those retired stars and become the first player with 100 receptions in five different seasons.
Is he looking forward to it? Is he excited for it? Does he even care?
"Maybe when I'm done playing," Welker said Friday. "But right now, I'm just focused on how ever many catches I need to get to help us win."
Welker has a decent chance to make those eight grabs on Monday night when the New England Patriots (9-3) face the Houston Texans (11-1) in a marquee AFC matchup. After all, he's averaging 7.3 receptions per game in his six seasons since being traded here from Miami, and he traditionally shows well in big spots.
He could add that to an already-long list of accomplishments on Monday:
-- Welker is tied with Rice in NFL history with 17 games of at least 10 catches.
-- Welker is on pace to break a tie with Cris Carter as the only player to catch 120 passes in a season twice.
-- Welker has the most receptions in the past six seasons (646), by a large margin over Brandon Marshall (565).
And oh yeah, what truly matters is this. The Patriots have won six in a row and they are already the AFC East champions as they welcome the conference's top team.
"There's nothing more important in Wes's life than being a football player and thinking about football and making the big play and running the right route and getting open when it's most important," quarterback Tom Brady said. "That's what quarterbacks dream about."
Grabbing 100 passes seemed far from certain early in the season. Getting on the field, in fact, was a bigger issue.
Welker took part in just 70.5 per cent of the offensive snaps in the first two games after participating in 88.9 per cent of them during the 2011 regular season. Julian Edelman even started in his place in the second game.
"It's a long season so you just keep on battling, keep on working hard," Welker said Friday. "That doesn't change, even now."
Coach Bill Belichick never explained his reasoning, and Welker said he felt "fine" physically. In the season opener against Tennessee, Welker sat out 25 of the 67 offensive snaps. But in the past four games, he missed a total of just 23 plays.
And in Sunday's 23-16 win over Miami, he had 12 catches for 103 yards, and was thrown to 18 times.
Now, he has an NFL-high 92 snares -- one more than Marshall -- and is seventh with 1,064 yards receiving. And with injuries aplenty -- Edelman is out for the season with a foot injury suffered last Sunday, and tight end Rob Gronkowski is likely to miss his third straight game with a broken forearm -- Brady could be looking for Welker even more than usual.
"There's pressure on everybody," Welker said. "Everybody's got to step up."
He prefers not to look back at the knee injury he suffered at Houston in the last game of the 2009 season that forced him to miss the playoffs. It's all about moving forward for Welker.
After all, that is the New England way.
-- The Associated Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 8, 2012 C7
Fact Check
Have you found an error, or know of something we’ve missed in one of our stories? Please use the form below and let us know.
More Football
- Back to Top
- Return to Football
More Football
(1 of 3 articles for this month)
A tough act to follow
05/16/2013 1:00 AM 0There are tough encores in sports, but just imagine what is staring the Toronto Argonauts in the mug today after ...
Poll
Most Popular Football
- New Blue stadium lives up to the hype; now it's up to you
- Argos release ex-Bomber Brink
- Bombers training camp opens June 2
- Chargers, pass rusher Dwight Freeney agree to 2-year deal
- New GM Ed Hervey says Edmonton Eskimos have upgraded their offence
- Blue sign draft picks Fitzgerald, Pavlopoulos
- Bombers sign three defensive players
- Man with no plan tries again
- CFL gains when draft picks go south
- Bombers load camp roster with two DBs, LB, receiver
- New Blue stadium lives up to the hype; now it's up to you
- Argos release ex-Bomber Brink
- Bombers training camp opens June 2
- Bombers sign three defensive players
- Bombers load camp roster with two DBs, LB, receiver
- Game ball to tour communities before grand opening of new Bomber stadium
- Bombers pick Fitzgerald, Pavlopoulos
- CFL gains when draft picks go south
- Blue sign draft picks Fitzgerald, Pavlopoulos
- Bombers handing off opening-day ball to fans
- Bombers detail parking plan for new stadium
- Bomber boozers will change or they 'won't be here': GM Mack
- Hall turning heads at Bomber mini-camp
- Bombers are watching you
- CFL draft pick Mulumba would be proud to be a Bomber
- Bomber security to wave wands this season
- Bomber GM silent on Tebow's CFL prospects
- Bombers boast record season-ticket sales
- Blue in the red: Bombers to report a loss of almost $800,000
- Packers prospect a risky pick
- Game ball to tour communities before grand opening of new Bomber stadium
- Bombers handing off opening-day ball to fans
- New Blue stadium lives up to the hype; now it's up to you
- Super Bowl MVP to speak in Winnipeg
- CFL gains when draft picks go south
- Argos release ex-Bomber Brink
- Bombers detail parking plan for new stadium
- Bombers tackle parking issue
- Game ball to tour communities before grand opening of new Bomber stadium
- Blue in the red: Bombers to report a loss of almost $800,000
- Hall, Clement go to school
- Blue Bombers board of directors accepting nominations
- Bomber security to wave wands this season
- Bombers handing off opening-day ball to fans
- If it was up to me, I would have kept Brink and Elliott
- Going all-in on Buck a risky gamble for Bombers
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.