Patriots Place Wes Welker On PUP List To Start Training Camp

Patriots WR Wes Welker tore his ACL and MCL at the end of the 2009 regular season and made an impressive comeback to lightly participate in some of the Pats OTAs in June.

Welker isn't 100% so the Patriots will be placing him on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list to start training camp.

This isn't quite the same as placing him on this list to start the regular season.

Welker can come off the list at any time during training camp and then he would immediately count against the 80-man camp roster. He doesn't count against the roster while on the PUP list.

If Welker is on the PUP list to start the regular season, he isn't eligible to return until week six. At that point, the Patriots could activate him within three weeks.

There have been varying opinions on Welker's return date. Some feel they'll start him off on the PUP list as he recovers from major knee surgery while others suggest he'll be active.

The last guess on Wes Welker's return from an ACL injury was that he would start the season on the PUP list making him inactive for the first six games of the season.

The latest guess, according to the Boston Globe, is that it could be a "probability" that he's back by week one.

After that? Well, a Week 1 return from Welker is certainly a possibility (if not a probability), and there is precedent for that kind of speedy return. That’s not to say anything should be assumed, just that the nature of his injury and history of those returning from him give indications that it wouldn’t be stunning at all to see him playing against Cincinnati. The bigger question may revolve around how effective he can be early on.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick has been silent on the matter except to say that he is "coming along" with injury rehab.

With the varying opinions out there, the only thing we can be assured of at this point is that the Patriots likely won't be making a decision until the last possible moment.

Mike Reiss of ESPN.com has offered up an "educated guess" on where Wes Welker might start the season for the Patriots.

If I had to make an educated guess, Welker will open training camp on the physically unable to perform list, and will remain there through at least the first six weeks of the regular season.

Some are wondering if he could even be ready for the season opener on Sept. 12 which would be an amazing feat coming off of knee surgery.

Welker participated lightly in some OTA work this spring and Bill Belichick hasn't given up any specifics but says he's "on schedule."

Once thought to be near impossible, some folks are predicting Wes Welker could be ready for the Patriots week one game. Though the odds are against of him returning to pre-injury form, coach Bill Belichick said on Tuesday he was impressed with how hard he's working.

"I think he’s doing all right. It’s a long rehab. He’s done quite a bit. He still has a long way to go. I know he is working really hard. I’m impressed with his work ethic, as you always are with Wes. That’s the way he is. He’s coming along."

A recent study suggested players coming off of injuries like the one Wes Welker had will usually return to about 66 percent of their previous production.

For more on the Pats, check out SB Nation's Pats Pulpit.

Wes Welker reportedly tore his ACL last season and, surprisingly, was on the field for the Patriots OTAs this week. No one is saying he's completely back but it's an impressive start to his return to injury. In fact, some are even wondering if he could be ready for the start of the season in September, which many didn't think would happen.

Welker will return to football -- at some point -- but how effective will he be? The Boston Globe passes along a study that suggests his effectiveness will be severely limited.

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.

He didn't play a full season in 2009 but still had 123 catches for 1,348 yards. Cutting off about a third of that would leave him in the area of 80 catches and just under 900 yards.

The report goes on to state that it can take up to 18 months for a player to regain the "first step quickness" of the pre-injury form. For Welker, this is especially concerning because much of his game is based on his first-step quickness.

For more on Welker and the Patriots, check out SB Nation's Pats Pulpit.

It looks as if Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker has more rehabbing to do this off-season.

From NFL.com:

It appears Patriots WR Wes Welker has more to rehab from this offseason than a serious knee injury. An NFL source told the Boston Globe that Welker has a torn rotator cuff in addition to the torn knee ligaments he suffered in Week 17. The Globe reports Welker has already had surgery to repair the injured shoulder, marking his second procedure since the end of the regular season.

Welker, who led the NFL with 123 receptions for 1,348 yards and four touchdowns, had reconstructive surgery to repair multiple torn knee ligaments in February.

A timetable for Welker’s recovery is not known, though he was a long shot to start the regular season, given the magnitude of his knee injury. It is unclear how or when Welker hurt his shoulder.

For more on the Patriots, check out SB Nation's Pats Pulpit.

Star Patriots WR Wes Welker badly injured his knee on Sunday in what amounted to a meaningless loss to the Texans (the Bengals came out flat and lost last night, meaning New England kept their three-seed in the AFC Playoffs anyways). Welker was set to undergo an MRI today, but it is likely just confirming the bad news that he tore both his MCL and ACL. 

Welker's injury raises the question: should he have even been playing? It's a question SB Nation's Pats Pulpit answers, saying yes, Welker should have been in -- his injury was a fluke if there ever was one. 

Now, for those criticizing Belichick's decision to start many key starters inluding Wes, hindsight is 20/20. There's no way Belichick could've predicted such a devastating injury and given that it wasn't even the result of a hit, Welker could've done this on the practice field. I've said many times over the past week that some guys should be rested (Vince Wilfork), but the vast majority should see some time in a game, no matter how meaningless. Why? I'm a firm believer that rhythm is important to maintain and can be lost if not properly cultivated. This takes reps. Maybe not a game's worth, but certainly a few series. Resting key starters, especially those at skill positions, is too dangerous, IMO. Keep them on the field as long as is needed to maintain that rhythm.

It's early, but the early results on Wes Welker's knee are not good, according to ESPN's Adm Schefter: "Initial tests showed Patriots WR Wes Welker tore his ACL and MCL. He'll undergo more tests tomorrow to confirm."

There's still no official word regard Wes Welker's injury from Sunday's loss to the Texans. All that's known at this point is that he hurt his left knee in the first quarter and did not return. But Welker's family is fearing the worst after seeing his reaction on the bench before being carted off.

“Not too good," Leland Welker [father] said shortly after the fourth quarter started. "We’re sick. We’re absolutely sick. We take all those hits and stuff all season long. And then just one fluke cut, and he just blows it out.”

Leland Welker had not yet heard any word on the extent or nature of Welker’s injury. He just knew, like anyone who watched the play and Welker’s reaction, that it was not good. He hadn’t spoken to Welker, but his wife had.

“He was really upset,” Leeland Welker said. “He didn’t feel like talking about it too much.”

“This is the worst we’ve ever encountered,” Leland Walker said.

One of the most jarring images was Welker, one of the toughest players in the league, dabbing at his eyes on the Patriots bench before a cart came and carried him away.

“I’ve seen him look like that before,” Leland Welker said. “It was always in a losing effort or something like that. It wasn’t a good sign.”

Video of Wes Welker's knee injury suffered in New England's loss at Houston on Sunday. He did not return after being carted off the field.