While Patriots coach Bill Belichick has made plenty of brainy moves while at the helm in New England, his biggest coup by far had to be snatching slot receiver Wes Welker from the AFC East rival Dolphins.
Welker has since gone on to put up franchise records in New England as well as set regular-season league benchmarks for catches.
If that weren’t enough, against the Dolphins — who have been a bit of a thorn in the side of Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady (5-5 against Miami) — Welker has been incredible. In nine games against his former team, he’s had 75 catches for 981 yards and 44 first downs. That’s more than eight catches and 109 yards a game against the Fins.
But Welker says it has nothing to do with the orange and turquoise letting him be the fish that got away.
“This has been a great situation for me, coming here. I think how I’ve done against them compared with other teams is completely random and accidental,” Welker said, according to the Boston Herald. “I’m familiar with the field, the stadium and things like that. But I try and bring it every week no matter who we’re playing. It just kind of turns out I’ve had some good games there. … I just guess [collectively], they’ve been better than most. But you’re only as good as your next game. And it’s the next one coming up.”
Others have been noticing Welker’s success against Miami, too.
“He’s fun to watch if you’re not playing against him,” Dolphins defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle said, according to the Herald.
The Patriots have two more chances this season to see Welker (wait for it…) start reeling it in against his former team.
