This is why teams considering resting starters: Wes Welker tears ACL
ESPN.com is reporting that Patriots’ receiver Wes Welker has been diagnosed with a torn ACL and MCL and will miss the entire postseason. Welker suffered the injury while trying to make a cut during New England’s 34-27 loss to Houston in Week 17.
For those fans that complain about teams resting starters late in the season, this is why they do it. I understand this isn’t the same as the Colts conceding a perfect season by pulling Peyton Manning and the rest of their starters last week, and I’m not trying to compare the situations. But did Welker have to play today? Did he absolutely need the extra work? If he took the week off, would he and Tom Brady not be able to complete a bubble screen next week in the postseason after successfully completing 4,350 bubble screens this season?
I get it – momentum is vital in sports. Teams don’t want to have a losing mindset entering the postseason and it’s key for coaches to keep their players confident. But what was this all for in the end? What if this had been Brady? I’m sorry, but I disagree with those that think teams with nothing to play for should keep their starters in through Week 17. I get that injuries can happen in practice and even in the player’s own homes, but the risk factor is amplified in a live game.
I feel bad for Wes Welker. He worked his ass off all season to help his team get to the playoffs and now he’ll have to watch from the sidelines because Bill Belichick and his coaching staff decided that he needed to play in a semi-meaningless game against Houston.
Tough loss for the Pats. I still think you have to play guys to keep momentum, but as you said this highlights why coaches pull their starters.
Amazing…teams resting players heading into the playoffs was never a huge issue until the fantasy football explosion. Now you’d think these coaches were killing babies by the way people are reacting. Make no mistake, that’s the underlying reason everyone is so crazy about resting players, especially in week 16 when most fantasy championships are being played.
This is how many bonehead decisions by Belichick since 4th and 2 against the Colts? Then the Cowboys and Eagles left Romo and McNabb in for the entire game when it was virtually over at the start of the 4th quarter. These coaches should have their heads examined.
As you correctly point out, this situation is not the same as the Colts not trying for perfection last week. There was much less to lose here, and I feel bad for Welker no matter how much I hate the Patriots.
That said, this sort of goes back to the point I was making last week. Where do you draw the line with resting starters? Welker went down in the 1st quarter of a game he was probably not going to see the second half of. Coaches tend to play guys for a quarter or a half in these situations, trying to balance injury risk with risk of rust I suppose.
My point is that making the decision to play guys for a half doesn’t guarantee they’re safe from injury. It’s a dangerous game after all, and in point of fact Welker’s injury came while planting his leg. That could have happened in practice, game contact had nothing to do with it.
I don’t really know what the answer is to be honest. Maybe teams should just outright bench guys that aren’t going to need the reps, perhaps that is the answer.
Injuries are a part of football, and unfortunately incidents like this can happen to key players. Sure, he didn’t HAVE to play, but Bill Belichick did what he thought was best for his football team, and that was to keep the momentum going that had been built up the last couple of weeks, and you can’t blame him for doing that, given his track record. It wasn’t a “bonehead” decision, it was a football decision, and I have a feeling BB knows what’s best for his team more than us. The game did mean something to the Patriots because simply resting their players would have halted the momentum they built up since their loss to the Dolphins, momentum they really (and possibly desperately) needed. As I said before, injuries happen, they’re a part of the game, it’s incredibly unfortunate that Wes Welker suffered the injury he did. Maybe the field conditions of that stadium should be looked at, a top athlete shouldn’t suffer an injury like this simply from trying to make a cut if the field is in good condition.