Wes Welker Dips His Toes Back Into Patriots-Broncos Rivalry

Wes Welker isn’t exactly having the best of seasons.

The Denver Broncos wide receiver, suspended for the first four games of the season for testing positive for a “performance-enhancing” substance which may or may not have been the party drug, Molly, saw his suspension reduced to two games as part of the NFL’s revised PED policy last month.

He’s been about as visible for the Broncos as he might have been had he been suspended for all of Denver’s first seven games of the season.

Welker has hauled in 19 catches on 24 targets so far through five games, amassing all of 181 yards and a touchdown for the 6-1 Broncos, who will face the 6-2 Patriots at Gillette Stadium Sunday afternoon.

The best that can be said about Welker’s season upon his Foxborough homecoming is that it’s better than the year that the man who replaced him in New England is having.

OK, so Danny Amendola had that nifty catch to help beat the New York Jets in Week 7, but it’s really been a lost campaign (seven catches, 47 yards) for the 5-11, 183-pound wide receiver, whom the Patriots signed in the immediate aftermath of Welker high-tailing it to Denver with a two-year, $12 million deal in his back pocket.

But did he drop the pen when he signed the contract?

Welker spent six years in New England, though his legacy with Patriots fans is about as fractured as his relationship with Bill Belichick. He’s hardly remembered anymore as Tom Brady’s most dependable wide receiver, a guy who had 926 catches for 7,459 yards in New England. No, he’s the guy who dropped the ball in the Super Bowl, deflecting any blame from the quarterback who actually threw the questionable pass because, well that is what most of us do.

He’s the guy who dropped the pass in the AFC Championship game against the Baltimore Ravens.

He’s even been somehow built into being a disruptive presence in the locker room. I mean, we’re talking foot jokes here, people.

During his time here, Welker seemed a likeable chap, yet also one who wasn’t afraid to push buttons as far as the Patriot Way was concerned. He liked to “stick it in Bill’s face” every now and then. He was the counter-culture, so to speak, to the locker room foot soldiers at Patriot Place Compound. Belichick must have watched his offseason Kentucky Derby shenanigans from afar with a knowing nod about what was mercifully off his plate. Have a personality on your own time, mister.

The fact that he eventually took less money to play with Broncos spoke volumes of his strained relationships within the Patriots organization, which then turned to the vanilla Amendola to replace him in the slot.

It’s pretty much been a disaster.

Julian Edelman has, of course, since emerged as Welker’s replacement in New England (hey, drops and all, right Pats fans?), but to assume the Patriots planned it that way is like saying NBC knew “Seinfeld” was going to be a hit from the get-go. Nope. In fact, the show was almost cancelled in its infancy before the network gave it an extended shot. The Patriots haven’t pulled the cord on Amendola yet because they’re only in the second year of a five-year, $28.5 million contract. He remains the highest-paid receiver on the team, which is just sort of remarkable. Newman, indeed.

On Sunday, Amendola had two catches for five yards in the Patriots’ win over the Chicago Bears.

Last Thursday, Welker had two catches for…five yards in the Broncos’ win over the San Diego Chargers.

“I feel like he is a great threat out there and I’m sure defenses would tell you that,” Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning said. “He’s had a great attitude. I’m not speaking for him but I’m sure he wants more catches and to be more involved, but it’s just the way the ball works sometimes.”

Particularly in an offense that includes wide receiver Demaryius and tight end Julius Thomas, catches are going to be at more of a premium for Welker, and perhaps the same goes for Amendola in New England, even if he might be part of an arsenal with no one head above the rest other than tight end Rob Gronkowski.

That won’t stop some Patriots fans from celebrating his supposed demise in Denver. One sports talk radio caller even went as far as to suggest last week that Welker was among the most hated athletes in recent Boston lore.

What?

Welker is remembered more as a scapegoat than anything else in New England, but it wasn’t he who stepped back into the end zone for a safety in the Super Bowl. He wasn’t covering Mario Manningham as far as I can recall. He didn’t fumble the ball at the 40-yard line against the Ravens to my best recollection.

When Denver and New England hooked up last November, Welker responded with only four catches in his return. Edelman had 110 yards and two touchdowns. Point made by Belichick.

Amendola had three catches in that same game for 17 yards. Point, Welker, who added four more catches in January’s AFC title game in Denver. Edelman had 89 yards and a touchdown in the championship game, or 89 yards and a touchdown more than Amendola.

Round three takes place Sunday, a showdown of AFC titans pitting Brady and Manning up against one another for an historic 16th time. This time, Welker and Amendola, perhaps primary story lines a year ago, have since been relegated to secondary concerns.

There’s nothing special about either receiver in 2014. But if you’re honest with yourself, you’d still rather have the one catching passes from Manning these days.

How could you not?