New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was not shy about the fact that he did not appreciate Wes Welker’s hit on Aqib Talib in the AFC Championship Game. Belichick called the hit “deliberate” and said it was one of the worst plays he has ever seen. The NFL later determined that it was legal, though there has been plenty of debate over whether it was necessary.
[WATCH: Wes Welker drills Aqib Talib over the middle]
On Tuesday, Welker basically called Belichick a hypocrite. The Denver Broncos receiver told reporters that he ran the same play with the Patriots.
“It’€™s a rub play that everybody runs,” he said, per WEEI.com’s Mike Petriglia. “It’€™s one of those deals where you try to get a rub on that guy and really, if you can get him to go over the top of you, the more separation the other receiver will have. That’€™s what I tried to do to get Demaryius a little more open and unfortunately we collided.
“We ran the same play (in New England).”
While I don’t think Welker intended to injure Talib, the contact did seem a bit excessive to me and a tad early. I believe that the Patriots and plenty of other teams run similar plays, but I’m certainly not buying the whole “unfortunately we collided” thing. Welker intended to hit Talib, even if he wasn’t trying to hurt him.
