Stunner: Welker working out with Pats already (1 Viewer)

[Sidewinder16]

Call me crazy but when I watched this video on NFL network and saw the type of cuts Welker was making, I don't see how he won't be ready for week 1.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-arou...50f8/OTA-update

Fast forward to the 1 minute mark or so.

am I the only one that sees Welker "fast stepping" thru his cuts?He never planted his foot and turns .... but kinda stutter stepped thru them.

I see him as being far from right at this point but the season is still months away.

Yep, that's definitely what he's doing, and it's almost certainly on purpose. His ACL isn't healed enough to support sharp cuts and quick stops, but he's got plenty of leg muscle to support the running he's doing.Here's what "ESPN injury analyst Stephania Bell" said after Welker was injured:

"It's conceivable he could be practicing in August, but it's still a stretch," Bell said. "But because of the type of player Welker is, his strength has been the quick burst of speed and ability to change of direction.

"Unfortunately, those are the toughest things to get back after this kind of injury. Those movements are the most stressful on an ACL/MCL injury."

 

[floods]

Welker, Wes - Left Knee (Probable)

Be ready.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Anyone who doubts Welker's ability to come back is backing the wrong horse. The guy is tough as nails and you could see as soon as he got that injury, despite the pain he was feeling at that time, that he was going to come back. He's not there yet, of course, but he's well on his way.

Toughness is mental. An injury is physical. You aren't going to return very quickly from an injury like this, I don't care how tough you are. Kudos to Welker if he can make it back a bit earlier than originally thought, but practicing and taking hits in a game are very different things. He needs to be careful, or if he come back prematurely and get another injury that could put him out for longer...or worse, forever.

 

[Mark Wimer]

Call me crazy but when I watched this video on NFL network and saw the type of cuts Welker was making, I don't see how he won't be ready for week 1.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-arou...50f8/OTA-update

Fast forward to the 1 minute mark or so.

am I the only one that sees Welker "fast stepping" thru his cuts?He never planted his foot and turns .... but kinda stutter stepped thru them.

I see him as being far from right at this point but the season is still months away.

Yep, that's definitely what he's doing, and it's almost certainly on purpose. His ACL isn't healed enough to support sharp cuts and quick stops, but he's got plenty of leg muscle to support the running he's doing.Here's what "ESPN injury analyst Stephania Bell" said after Welker was injured:

"It's conceivable he could be practicing in August, but it's still a stretch," Bell said. "But because of the type of player Welker is, his strength has been the quick burst of speed and ability to change of direction.

"Unfortunately, those are the toughest things to get back after this kind of injury. Those movements are the most stressful on an ACL/MCL injury."

Good quotation, thanks for the link.

 

[Mark Wimer]

He looked good in that video... I own Wes in a lot of leagues and I hope for the safety of the player they start him on the PUP so he'll most likely be 100% come week 7

I also have him on a IDP dynasty team and I am planning managing that 2010 WR roster with the assumption that Welker is out till week 7. That way, if he comes back earlier, it's a pleasant surprise.

 

[David Yudkin]

This was in the Boston Globe the other day . . .

A 2006 study by the American Journal of Sports Medicine showed that 79 percent of NFL running backs and receivers undergoing ACL surgery from 1998-2002 were able to return to the field. But the players who did return performed at just 66 percent of the level they performed at pre-injury, on average.One thing players typically have trouble getting back, Gladstone said, is first-step quickness, which can take 18 months to return to pre-injury form.

 

[Team Canada]

The guy who covers the Pats was on the radio here in Boston last week. He said Welker was doing warmups, running and W shaped receiver drills (run stop turn run). He said he looked good. What is surprising to me is the docs cleared him. That means more to me than Welker deciding to go out there.

I think it is pushing it a little too much though. Someone tell him what happened to Jerry Rice the first game he came back from his 3 maybe 4 month recovery. POP.

 

[ShaqAttaq]

cadaver tissue is never as strong as the native tissue. allografts heal more quickly than a transplant of live tissue from your body, but they are not as strong. i've had 5 ACL reconstructions.

This is only part of the news. Welker was also seen running routes and participating in cone drills. While he was not quite the speed he had been in the past, he was doing things utilizing the same range of motion as he normally would.This has prompted some folks to now think that Welker will start the year on the active roster and not on the PUP as had been speculated for months.

If he can do this without risking further injury, good luck to him. I love the drive, but he needs to take care of himself...he is not a "bubble" player. I know this will draw "who made you Doc Andrews comments", but I am about to undergo my second ACL surgery (same knee). First time, the team doc (eventual one) for the NY Giants did it; I happen to be fortunate enough to have the former team doc for the Carolina Hurricanes doing my next one (so this should debunk the myth of better care for professional athletes). The guy that is doing mine actually was in the practice in NY when I had mine done the first time (wicked coincidence) and he told me that the recovery today is much less than when I had mine first done (no contact for first 8 months). The general "contact" rule today is roughly five months, but that also may include cutting (I do not know as I play ice hockey and it is different than a "planting sport" such as football). I am not an athlete today (was a college hockey player first time around and all i did was go to class and rehab), but I still think he is pushing it a little too much. Note: There is also a "myth" out there that once you have an ACL done (they replace it with a cadaver's achilles tendon) that the repaired knee is stronger than the other. Let me be the first to say that IN MY CASE, this could be nothing further from the truth. In fact, the second time it happened (about 3 weeks ago), I didn't get hit or catch an edge...it just collapsed like a piece of rotted wood. I did not even fall this time (first time felt like a sniper from the stands got me) and I played the rest of the game without thinking twice about it. Again, this is all anectdotal, but i find it interesting that a guy like Jamal Lewis blew out knees like it was going out of style (and now me too) and I am going to be confident about Welker going forward?? Personally from a fantasy standpoint, I will pass. For the past 18 years, my knee has never been "right"...OK, but NOT like the uninjured one. I like Welker (hard to admit as a Jets fan that he is Chrebet with skills), but for his sake, I hope he pulls it back a notch.