Wes Welker – September 22, 2022
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Thursday, September 22, 2022
Wide Receivers Coach Wes Welker
(How many times has this been for you in terms of Hall of Fame voting?) – “I’m not sure how many times exactly. I know there’s been a few. So I think since I’ve been eligible, I believe so. But it’s definitely an honor just to be in the breath of the Hall of Fame and everything like that. We’ll see what happens but I’m just kind of focusing on Buffalo this week and let everything else kind of take care of itself.”
(Last Sunday was WR River Cracraft’s first touchdown catch. You’ve been with him for a couple of season. What was that moment like for you seeing him have that moment?) – “It’s so cool for River. I’ve been really proud of him and the work that he’s put in. It was funny in the preseason, that was his first touchdown in six years. And so to have a touchdown like that in a critical moment in such a big game and the win that we had was such a cool moment for him. So I’m just really happy for him and the work that he’s put in. To finally get that opportunity was such a cool thing, just to kind of see over these past few years of just the work he’s put in and how valuable he’s been to our team.”
(To follow up on that, you’re a fellow undrafted guy. What kind of qualities do you see in WR River Cracraft that can help him etch out a lengthy and successful career? He’s been in the league for a while, but what qualities do you see in him?) – “I think it just has to do with his work ethic and how much time – you can tell he thinks about football all the time. On his off days, he’s always up here, always doing extra, after practice, even during the spring and all those different things. It all adds up. To me, it’s just the work that he’s put in and he listens and he’s on time. He just does everything right, the way you want a professional athlete to go about his business. So I’m really, really happy for him and I hope he continues to go down that path, which I know he will.”
(WR Erik Ezukanma been inactive for the past two games after what looked like from the outside a pretty strong training camp. How have you seen him respond to being that healthy scratch?) – “I think he’s responded really well. He’s just kept on going about his work. For rookie receivers in the league, it is very tough. And we have a very talented room with a bunch of guys that are very, very detailed. At the end of the day, when you’re talking about fourth, fifth, sixth receivers on your roster, you’ve got to be at play all three positions. You don’t know when somebody’s going go down, you don’t know when somebody’s going to get tired, you don’t know when somebody needs an IV in the third quarter. You don’t know all of those different things and be able to plug and play guys, and not lose a beat, not sit there and be nervous as a coach or anything else. It’s a huge learning process being able to learn all these different positions week in, week out. It’s not the same plays every week like at Texas Tech. It’s not hand signals on the sideline. These are long calls. It’s a process. He’s preparing as if he’s playing and he needs to continue to do that. I think over time, we know what kind of talent he is. But we’ve got to keep everybody accountable when it comes to out there on the field. I just can’t – I and our whole staff can’t have that knot in your stomach when he’s out there and say is he going to do the right thing? Is he lined up in the right spot? Do we need to call a timeout? All those things are so critical that he is starting to understand. It’s not just being more talented. Everybody’s talented. But it’s all about the details and being on point with every single play that you’re out there because one MA (missed assignment) or anything out there can be the difference between winning and losing and right now, that’s just not something that we’re willing to do right now. He’ll get there. He just needs to continue to put in the work and understand that it is a process and when he’s ready, we’ll know he’s ready. We love his skill set. We love the way he’s going about his business. But it does take time. I’ve gone through it with a lot of rookies who have had to play too early and it’s hard. It is really tough. It’s hard on a coach. It’s hard on a staff. It’s hard on the player. And right now, we don’t have to do that. So we’re not going to do that until we feel comfortable with him being able to execute the way we need him to execute.”
(The way the WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle complement each other, is it as simple as two guys being really good on the same team or is it something deeper?) – “Their speed has really changed my perspective on the receiver position. Not totally changed my perspective, but not only do they have speed, but they’re dawgs. And they’re tough. It’s very rare to find guys that are that fast, that explosive, but aren’t track guys. They’re tough, they’re hard-nosed, they want to win, they compete, they bring it every day on the practice field. All those different things. I think that’s what sets them apart. I think that’s what sets most receivers apart is the mindset that they bring each and every day to want to be great and want to win and want to be successful and understanding that there’s a guy with lined up across for me and I’m going to win. To have two guys like that with that kind of talent and that kind of speed just puts so much stress on a defense. We’re very fortunate to have two guys like that. There are still a lot of things that we can improve. But I think we’re definitely headed in the right direction.”
(Speaking of those two guys, I know, things are on a case-by-case basis. But is it fair to say that one of them should have double digit targets every game?) – “It’s whatever the game presents. If they want to sit there and play two shell and have everybody way back there. Yeah, we still want to give them the ball, but we also don’t want to be dumb about it. If they’re giving us opportunities to be able to run the football and do those different things, we definitely want to take advantage of whatever the defense is going to be able to give us and they understand that. That’s the other cool thing about them is they know that their targets will come. And do we expect it to always be that high? Probably not. But if that’s what the game presents and in the situation that we’re in, then they know that they’re going to be on call to go out there and make plays for us. But at the same time, we can’t just sit there and try to force it or anything else. We want to put them in great positions to be successful. And if that means us running the football or whatever it is, having to block, having to do all those different things to win a football game, that’s what the game is about. I would never see them sit there and get upset if we won the game and they didn’t have double digit targets. That’s just not who they are. They’re competitors that want to win and at the end of the day, they’re going to get theirs. But we also have to be smart as a staff to understand that we’re going to do whatever it takes to win the game.”
(You guys lead the league in pre-snap motion. How do you see that impact defenses particularly when it comes to WR Tyreek Hill coming in motion?) – “Yeah, I mean you know that defenses are talking about him the whole week. And so moving him around or changing the strength of formations and all those different things, they’re tough on a defense. If we’re running a three-by-one, where’s Tyreek? Alright, we’re in a two-by-two, where’s Tyreek? Where’s (Jaylen) Waddle? Are they on the same side or are they on opposite sides? There’s a lot of stuff for them to think about when you have skill players like we do to that a defense has to prepare for. I think the more motions and changing strengths of motions and three-by-one, two-by-two or vice versa, are they on the same side or not; it’s just a lot for a defense to handle and hopefully get us in advantageous coverages to get those guys open.”
(Adding to that, can you speak about FB Alec Ingold being lined up at receiver sometimes and the versatility that he brings?) – “Obviously we had ‘Juice’ (Kyle Juszczyk) there in San Fran and, Alec is a very powerful kid and does a great job. He’s a great football player. Very physical. But also, when you’re able to go 21 personnel and still move a guy out wide and actually be able to run routes and be a viable receiver, it changes the way defenses think. So do we want to play base? Are we going to play nickel? Are we going to do all these different things and then what are our calls in base? How many times have they worked on empty with base out there on the field? How many times have they worked on the fullback being outside the numbers? Different things like that, that can be advantageous for us as an offense and he’s doing a heck of a job for us.”
