Bill Belichick certainly seems to believe that Denver Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker‘s hit on New England Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib during last weekend’s AFC Championship Game was dirty. The NFL doesn’t exactly agree with the head coach, though.
Welker was not fined for his low block on Talib, the league confirmed Friday. The hit forced Talib to leave the game with an injury early in the second quarter, severely hindering a Patriots secondary that ultimately allowed Peyton Manning to throw for 400 yards and two touchdowns.
“I was never really worried about it,” Welker told ESPN’s Jeff Legwold.
Dirty or not, Welker didn’t technically do anything illegal on the block. He was running a typical pick play, designed to screen the corner covering Demaryius Thomas, and he wound up going low and colliding with Talib’s lower leg. NFL rules don’t prohibit such a hit, and the league’s vice president of officiating Dean Blandino even called the hit legal earlier this week on  NFL Network.
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