Wes Welker Participates In OTAs 5 Months After ACL Tear

[UNHWildCats]

In a pleasant and relatively stunning surprise for the Patriots, slot receiver Wes Welker was in uniform and participating in drills during Wednesday morning's OTA practice.

Welker tore his ACL and damaged his MCL late last season. He also needed offseason surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. Before Wednesday, it was widely believed that Welker would not be ready for Opening Day, and that he might miss the first six weeks of the season on the reserve/PUP list.

According to Albert Breer of the Boston Globe, Welker participated in pre-practice stretching and high knee bag drills before the team put the kibosh on reporters tweeting from practice.

Observed Breer in conclusion, "My opinion on Welker timetable has changed. Drastically."

While it's uncertain if Welker made any cuts on his reconstructed knee, it seems clear that his recovery is well ahead of schedule.

The career overachiever continues to defy the odds.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... ?related=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[bluehenbillk]

The rest of the team recover from that bus, errr I mean the Ravens that ran ALL FREAKING OVER them in the playoffs.....

[dgreco]

Should and knee surgery, if he is not on the PUP list for the first 5 weeks I will be stunned.

[ASUG8]

He's the only guy on my FFL team I'm entertaining as a keeper - keep us posted on his progress.

[93henfan]

Gotta love the grit, but boy does that sound like a high risk/low reward move by Wes.

[SuperHornet]

Gotta love the grit, but boy does that sound like a high risk/low reward move by Wes.

Kinda sounds like Jerry Rice....

The high risk part, anyway. I'm not so sure about the low reward part, though. As good as he is, particularly on special teams, he could be the difference maker in determining how far they go, and early season games DO count toward that.

[UNHWildCats]

Gotta love the grit, but boy does that sound like a high risk/low reward move by Wes.

Kinda sounds like Jerry Rice....

The high risk part, anyway. I'm not so sure about the low reward part, though. As good as he is, particularly on special teams, he could be the difference maker in determining how far they go, and early season games DO count toward that.

I doubt Welker will do any special teams work in 2010.