New England Patriots Links 9/18/12 - Belichick: Welker 'One of our Smartest, Most Experienced Players'

Rodney Harrison ‏@Rodney_Harrison

Attention attention pats lost a game they will be fine. Long season. Wow never knew so many people hated pats so much.

Thx pats nation for support. No worries pats will win afc east regardless hahahahaha

Christopher Price explains why Julian Edelman has played so much this season. Here are two of the reasons:

The wide receiver group has less depth now than in years past. Over the last 10 years, the Patriots have usually utilized between five and seven different wide receivers. (They have had seven for most of the last three seasons.) However, the Patriots opened the 2012 season with just four: Edelman, Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd and Matthew Slater. Even with the continued emergence of the tight ends and (to a lesser extent) the running backs in the passing game, there are going to more opportunities for receptions with fewer receivers, particularly considering that Slater is almost exclusively a special teamer. Edelman is the one who has benefited the most from the increased targets and more playing time -- through two games, he had six catches on eight targets.

Wes Welker wasn’t ready to start the season. Welker admitted as much in a revealing Q&A with WEEI on Monday, saying that he missed a week of the preseason because of a death in the family, and adding that when you miss a week, "it’s like missing two weeks back in the day. ... Missing that time and stuff, it hurts, I agree with you. Especially now that you don’t get as many reps." It’s also worth mentioning that before the start of the regular season, he had no problem saying he wished he could have used more preseason reps.

However, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Monday that it certainly hasn’t appeared that Welker has had to play catch-up because of the time he missed, saying, "Wes has a lot of experience around here. I think he’s one of our smartest and obviously most experienced players. I don’t really see him behind."

TEAM TALK

• Erik Scalavino takes a closer look at Cardinals-Patriots and makes some good observations.
• Erik Scalavino tells us what happened in the locker room Monday at Gillette.
• Monday Press Conference: Bill Belichick (9.08 min. video)
• Patriots Today - A closer look at Sunday's game. (3.10 min. video)
• Patriots Today - Welker makes franchise history. (2.43 min. video)
• Locker Room Uncut - Edelman, Slater address media . (2.14 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Karen Guregian reports the Pats have signed TE Kellen Winslow Jr. to help make up for the loss of Aaron Hernandez.
• Christopher Price looks at what Kellen Winslow's addition means for the Patriots' offense.
• Jeff Howe digs a bit deeper to understand the Patriots' conservative approach during their final drive against the Cardinals.
• Tom E. Curran notes Sunday was a reminder that even the good ones like Josh McDaniels have bad days. His play-calling was questionable, highlighted by a failed trick play late in the third quarter.
• Gerry Callahan wants to know how eight months ago Wes Welker beat out Larry Fitzgerald to be named to the All-NFL first team, and Sunday he couldn't beat out Julian Edelman for a starting spot.
• Shalise Manza Young finds few answers for the decline in Welker's snaps.
• Gary Dzen compiles a list of theories as to why Wes Welker isn't playing, from the realistic to the absurd.
• Mike Reiss breaks down another layer on the Welker vs. Edelman snaps from Sunday.
• Jeff Howe reports the Patriots committed too many gaffes, and an overall lack of execution, that significantly affected the scoreboard Sunday.
• The Herald Staff identifies five of the Patriots biggest mistakes from Sunday.
• Chad Finn wants to know what's up with the offense.
• Field Yates passes along some thoughts after re-watching the Patriots' game Sunday. First half and Second half.
• Matt Chatham focuses on the importance of consistent play, over spectacular play. The absence of lowlights, rather than the frequency of highlights, is really what success is all about in the NFL.
• Tony Massarotti says we should have seen this loss coming.
  
• Mike Reiss looks at the positional groupings utilized by the Pats Sunday and analyzes what it might mean.
• Mike Reiss breaks down the O-line rotation between Sebastian Vollmer and Marcus Cannon.
• Tedy Bruschi posts the transcript of his Monday chat about the Patriots.
• Jeff Howe highlights Tom Brady's call-in to WEEI Monday morning, after having a "hard time sleeping."
• ESPN Boston highlights Boomer Esiason's guest appearance on WEEI Monday, where he speculates that the Pats are sending a message to Wes Welker.
• Mike Reiss notes Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth will call Sunday's prime-time NBC game between the Patriots and Ravens in Baltimore.
• Jeff Howe Patriots Notebook: Patriots are preparing for the Ravens without the services of Aaron Hernandez; Matthew Slater was voted as the new player representative; It was the first time Julian Edelman had multiple catches in a game since the 2010 finale.
• Mark Farinella notes that at least the Krafts won't have to spend money on another "16-0" banner.
• Ron Borges whips out his red Sharpie to give the Pats their Week 2 Report Card. They better hide this one from Mom.

NATIONAL NEWS

• James Walker (ESPN) Kellen Winslow a good addition for Patriots.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Fitzgerald limited to one catch, calls Belichick "best coach in history."
• Dan Hanzus (NFL.com) Report: Aaron Hernandez out at least into October.
• Judy Battista (NY Times) Patriots are bitten by reliance on tight ends.
• Jeremy Gordon (Wall St. Journal) Are the Patriots still the Patriots?
• Nolan Nawrocki (Pro Football Weekly) Hernandez loss stagnates Patriots' offense.
• Jarrod Argobright (Cold Hard Football Facts) Stat Attack: Arizona invites New England into The Twilight Zone.
• James Walker (ESPN) AFC East Player of the Week.
• NFL Total Access (NFL.com) Brian Billick analyzes Bill Belichick's end game management. (3.03 min. video)
• Peter King (SI) MMQB: Shoddy, inconsistent officiating making the game hard to enjoy.
• Don Banks (SI) Gostkowski's big miss caps wild day in Foxboro; More from Week 2.
• Kevin Fishbain (Pro Football Weekly) AFC East spin cycle: Week 2.
• Pete Prisco (CBS Sports) Monday Musings: Week 2.
• Jason La Canfora (CBS Sports) Monday Observations: Week 2.
• Chris Burke (SI) First Down, Fourth Down: Best & Worst from Week 2.
• Peter Schrager (Fox Sports) NFL Week 2's top 10 takeaways.
• Mike Pereira (Fox Sports) NFL is suffering with replacements in Week 2.