Tom Brady: There’s nobody that can substitute in for Wes
If you like this …View all ยปWhile Tom Brady got his wish to play in the final regular season game Sunday against the Houston Texans, it was Wes Welker’s devastating injury that overshadowed any other story line as the New England Patriots fell to the Texans 34-27.
Despite the fact that the game had no implications on their playoff standing, Brady publicly acknowledged his wishes to play, and play well, during the regular season finale. He understood the risks, as did Bill Belichick who started the quarterback and his top two receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker.
This decision proved to be disastrous when Welker went down during the Patriots opening drive. Welker caught a pass from Brady, ran a few yards, then was clipped by Bernard Pollard, stepping awkwardly on his left knee before falling to the turf.
What followed was painfully familiar to Patriots fans, seeing a star player go down by the hand of Bernard Pollard. They’d seen it last season as Pollard lunged at Brady in their opening game, sending him to injured reserve with a torn ACL and MCL. Welker reportedly suffered the same injury in Sunday’s game and is likely to be out for several months to come.
Brady spoke of his receiver today on the Dennis and Callaghan show on WEEI in Boston, stating, “You can’t replace him, there’s no doubt about that. There’s nobody that can substitute in for Wes and think that they’re going to be Wes. He is everything you ask for.”
The quarterback went on to note, “We’ve got to move on and we’ve got to go out there and play and everyone I think in different areas has to pick it up… We’re going to evolve a little bit as an offense now. It was a very Wes Welker-oriented offense. Maybe part of the advantage is Baltimore doesn’t really know what they’re going to see from us now. We’re going to have shift focus and they’re really not sure where that focus is going to go.”
Brady of course was referring to their wild-card game against the Baltimore Ravens this upcoming Sunday at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots have just a few games to regroup and find a way to win without Welker. Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m. EST on CBS.
posted : 2 years ago Monday, January 4
