Was Wes Welker Cheap For Hitting Aqib Talib? (Or is Belicheck Whining)

When the word got out that Wes Welker had received a slight ringing of the bell, he was targeted.

On a couple of plays in the first Kansas City game, it was clear to me that the Chiefs needed to shut down Welker.  They hit him with purpose every time they had a chance until one of the hits rung his bell.  When he showed up out on the field against New England and Kansas City in the weeks following the first ringing of the bell, he was hit hard with every opportunity.

Finally against Tennessee, he took a pedestrian hit that cracked the bell in two.  Two things are for certain.  If you are not a great player, no one cares if you are injured, and if you are a great player and injured, you will be tested.

Aqib Talib got tested and failed.  He got tested in a way that corner backs and safeties tested Welker for weeks before he finally broke down.  Talib was fragile and is the best player in the Patriot backfield.  He had to be tested, and he got tested in the only way that receivers get to test DB's, on a cross field block.

This play was illegal in regards to the rules of football, but must have been viewed by official on the field as an accidental collision.  Accidental collisions happen all the time, but even accidents can take you out if you are playing while fragile.  Welker can tell you first hand because he had been targeted for weeks before he was forced to sit out and to get a space helmet before returning to the field.  Running around with a space helmet demands a little extra strength from the neck because you have a little more weight and a lot more incentive to keep your head on a swivel.

Welker had every reason to play the game with a self preservation mindset, and even on the Talib hit, he could have run the risk of Talib recognizing the collision and raising a defensive forearm at the head level.  Because he did not give the worse, Talib got the worse of a shoulder to shoulder hit.  Watching the rest of the action, Talib proceeds to limp off of the field from a hit to his shoulder and chest area.  If that caused him a leg strain, he was playing with an injury that would have probably made him go down eventually.

Welker did what any smart player or smart team should do to an all-pro player with possible injuries.  They tested him and he failed.  Talib probably was the key to any hope of a Patriot win, but Patriot coach Bill Belicheck should have prepared for this eventuality.

Next man up coach.