Thursday, November 20, 2008
Pats' Welker has eye on two games this weekend
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- A white Patriots helmet hung near Wes Welker's locker. A red Texas Tech cap covered his head.
On Saturday, he will be rooting for his No. 2 ranked alma mater to remain unbeaten when it visits No. 5 Oklahoma. But the former Red Raider says he's focused on a more important game the next day, when his current team has a critical matchup at the Miami Dolphins.
"That goes without saying right there," Welker said Wednesday. "I definitely have to take care of my end (Sunday). I'm just a fan now, just a proud alum now."
Welker played for Texas Tech from 2000-03, starting the season after Patriots running back Sammy Morris left the school. Both also were teammates with the Dolphins from 2004-06.
But Morris doesn't view Sunday's game as simply a trip to his former place of employment.
"I'm not looking at it as visiting South Florida," he said. "I'm looking at it (as) I'll go play a game and, hopefully, we'll do well."
Morris missed three games with a knee injury before running five times for 14 yards in last Thursday night's 34-31 overtime loss to the New York Jets.
Welker is second in the NFL with 72 receptions after tying T.J. Houshmandzadeh of Cincinnati for the league lead last season with 112. He did that with Tom Brady at quarterback last season. Matt Cassel is playing the position this season.
"I just sit there and try to do my job and however it happens, it happens," Welker said. "I can't sit here and say it's any one thing, the quarterback or anything like that. I've just got to do my job."
Usually that involves finding an open spot in front of the secondary, making the catch then picking up yards after the reception. Listed at 5-feet-9, he can be tough for would-be tacklers to get a handle on.
In Miami's 38-13 rout of the Patriots in Week 3, Welker had six catches for 55 yards. Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter had four sacks. He leads the NFL with 13 1/2 sacks and takes plenty of verbal shots.
"We don't like them," he said Monday. "They don't like us."
Trash talk, though, doesn't win games.
"I think everybody's experienced it at some point or another in their lives," Welker said. "Everybody's pretty immune to it by now and you've just got to go out there and let your play speak for itself."
He did that at Texas Tech where he holds the school record with 3,069 yards receiving and is second with 259 receptions. The Red Raiders were 31-21 in his five seasons, never having a losing record but never losing fewer than five games.
Now Texas Tech is 10-0 for the first time since 1938 and can clinch its only Big 12 South title by beating Oklahoma.
After answering a few questions about the Patriots on Wednesday, Welker said, "no questions about my hat or anything?"
The next question was about his hat.
"This is going to be a tough game for us, taking it into Norman," he said, "but we're excited. I know all the fans are excited (that) I've been talking to back in Oklahoma and Texas. They're real excited."
But while the Red Raiders try to stay on track toward a national championship game, the Patriots are simply trying to avoid a crushing loss in the tight AFC East race.
They're tied with Miami at 6-4, one game behind the Jets. Another loss to the Dolphins would be a big disadvantage for the Patriots in the head-to-head tiebreaker.
"It's a big game. Divisional games like this are always big," Welker said, "especially as tight as our division is."
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
