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January 25, 2008

Transcript: Wes Welker's Friday press conference

After the AFC Championship game a lot of guys said if you don’t complete a perfect season, it was all for nothing. Do you feel that way?
At this point, yeah. We’re down to our last game and we need to make sure that we’re coming out ready to play and make sure that we’re hitting [on] all cylinders.

When you were on the Dolphins and looked at this organization from afar, was coming here what you expected?
Yeah, absolutely, and probably more so. The organization has been great, the coaches, the players, everybody works together. Ultimately, it’s gotten us to this point and we just have to keep it going for one more.

Do you ever reflect and think of what the record was there and what it is here?
Not really. I think I get asked more about it than I think about it. I don’t really think about it that much. I just concentrate on the here and now and make sure I’m ready.

What has it meant to you personally, the way you’ve emerged as a player with a new team here?
It’s been great. Anytime you can come into a new team like this and be able to get the confidence of your teammates and go out there and make plays week in and week out, it’s been great. I feel like the offense really suits me, and having Tom Brady back there doesn’t hurt, either.

Was a season like this something you though you were capable of earlier in your career?
I don’t think so. I was in my first year in my career in the NFL returning kicks and punts. That was it, so I didn’t even have a playbook or anything like that. It was get back there, return kicks and punts. I thought I’d do that for the rest of my career and then I just worked hard and tried to develop the rest of my receiving skills, and it’s kind of come to this.

People point to you as not the biggest or strongest guy in the word, but given a chance… Do you mind that at all? Does that shortchange you at all?
Nothing really bothers me. I know my capabilities and I think the coaches know. We try to play to those strengths and from there I just go out there and execute my plays. I don’t really worry about the size, the speed, anything else. It’s a matter of me going out there and executing, and making sure I’m doing my job.

When teams try to take away Randy Moss, do the other receivers enjoy that at all?
Yeah, I mean, anytime you get singled up out there as a receiver, you want to win, so that’s a great opportunity, whenever you get singled up like that.

In some respects, you stand here as a rookie - a Super Bowl rookie. What are your thoughts and anticipations going into this experience?
I tell you, I think it’s been a media hype around here all season, so I don’t think it’s anything new for us. I realize it’s kind of picked up a little bit, but to tell you the truth, it’s kind of been a circus around here all year. We just have to take it in stride and remain on the same course we’ve been on all year, make sure we’re concentrating and focusing on the game and are ready for our execution out there on Sunday.

With all of the experience in that locker room of people who have been through this before, are you picking anyone’s brain?
Yeah, a little bit. Really, not so much about the game as much as, hey, you know, even after we won the AFC Championship, how many tickets do we get. Talking to the guys, what do you do about families? What did you do before? Stuff like that, and just try[ing] to get that stuff settled and taking care of it as early as possible so I can just get ready for the game.

I remember talking to you before about what you expected for the playoffs and you said you’d never been in a playoff game. Now that you’ve played in a few, was it what you expected?
I think it prepared us really well. I feel like even towards the stretch of trying to keep on winning games here towards the homestretch, it was pretty intense games. We did have a lot of teams [who] it was kind of their Super Bowl and we were making sure that we had to bring it each week. It’s no different in the playoffs, and it’s definitely stepped up some. You can see guys flying around and putting the extra effort [in] out there on the field.

Donte’ Stallworth said he’s taking over at quarterback and you guys are going to run the option. What are your thoughts about having him play quarterback?
Well, actually, Coach pulled me into the office and told me I was going to be the quarterback, so I don’t know where he’s hearing that from. I think he kind of overheard our conversation, and that’s actually going to be my role.

So now there’s a quarterback controversy?
A little bit.

Posted by Art Martone  at 2:49 PM | Permalink