In six preseason snaps, Patriots receiver Wes Welker proved again last night that he's the toughest player in the NFL.
NFL's toughest player? Easy. Wes Welker
Doesn't miss a beat six months after major knee surgery.
Six snaps that came, as the Boston Globe's Albert Breer notes, just seven months and 17 days after tearing the ACL and MCL in his left knee. And just six months and 18 days after surgery.
Oh yeah, Welker also had his rotator cuff surgically repaired as well.
Yet there he was last night in Atlanta, catching two passes over the middle, in traffic. One went six yards. The other went 14. There would have been a third reception, but Welker was blown up on a bubble screen when our guy Randy Moss whiffed while trying to block cornerback Christopher Owens.
Perhaps more amazing than Welker's performance last night is the fact that none of his teammates are surprised. The rest of us assumed Welker would miss the first six games on PUP. His teammates knew all along that Welker would get himself squared away in the offseason and be back sooner than later.
"No disrespect to any other receiver in the NFL, but man, he's the truth," said Patriots' 13-year veteran running back Fred Taylor.
Meanwhile, in Minnesota, the Vikings still await the return of Sidney Rice and his hip from PUP.