Opponents are finding out good things can happen against the Patriots when you leave a few bruises on Wes Welker.
And with one of the NFL’s most physical cornerbacks in Darrelle Revis leading the way, it sounds as if the Jets intend to become the latest team to take the wood to Welker.
After watching how the Cowboys and Steelers kept New England’s explosive-but-undersized slot receiver firmly under wraps by beating him up at the line of scrimmage, Rex Ryan’s team sees that as a key going into their big AFC East rematch Sunday night at MetLife Stadium.
“I saw the Steelers knock Wes Welker around a little bit, and it’s a copycat league,” Revis said yesterday. “That seems to be the way to go, the way you have to stop these guys.”
Welker was practically unstoppable the first five weeks of the season, averaging an incredible 148 receiving yards per game — including 124 yards on just five catches against the Jets — as the Patriots jumped out to a 5-1 start.
But Rex’s brother Rob Ryan, now the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys, hit on something in Dallas’ trip to New England a month ago that worked — at least against Welker.
The Cowboys’ corners were ordered to get physical — at least within the rules (wink-wink) — with Welker, who didn’t respond well at all to the physicality and finished with just six catches for 45 yards.
Pittsburgh promptly took the baton from Dallas the following week, except the Steelers put their trademark oomph into it with relentless hits on Welker that sometimes bordered on illegal (we’re looking at you, Troy Polamalu).
With Ike Taylor and Ryan Clark all but mugging Welker at the line, Tom Brady was robbed of his safety valve as the Patriots wideout disappeared with six catches for a mere 39 yards — by far his worst game of the season.
Even though the Giants beat New England last week, Big Blue played off Welker at the line and used mostly zone coverage. In the process, the Giants added fuel to the “beat up Welker” theory because he took advantage of the softer approach to ring up 139 yards on six catches.
The Jets feel as if they wrote the book on how to stop Brady and Welker during January’s playoff upset in Foxborough, flooding the field with defensive backs and being unafraid to pound all of New England’s receivers in man coverage.
Even so, Ryan and Revis sounded yesterday as if the Jets will put what they saw from the Patriots’ last three games into their game-planning stew.
Ryan was coy about the strategy, saying everyone would have to wait until Sunday to see what the Jets come up with. But Revis came off like he was ready to lace up the boxing gloves for what should be regular one-on-one matchups with Welker.
“Watching the film, you see how teams are trying to play them now,” Revis said, referring specifically to Welker. “We always feel confident in how we play these guys. We’re not afraid to let them know we’re here.”