It has now officially gotten serious for Denver Broncos WR Wes Welker. Welker has been diagnosed with his third concussion in the last 10 months.
This last head injury occurred on Saturday during the Broncos week 3 preseason game against the Houston Texans. Denver lost the meaningless game, 18-17, and all the talk was about Welker. At this point there is no timetable for his return to action.
"It was determined it was a concussion," Broncos head coach John Fox said. "He'll go through the protocol. The biggest thing on him is, of course, player safety. He'll go through the protocol. ... He won't come back until he's ready to come back,” according to CBSSports.com.
Houston safety JD Swearinger hit Welker late in the first half as Welker ventured through the middle of the field. Welker immediately signaled for help and his QB Peyton Manning came to the aid of his WR with a few choice words for Swearninger after he threw a TD pass on the next play. Actually, in a rare spectacle, Manning was flagged for an unsportsmanlike penalty for those words towards the Texans safety.
In this world of “protecting the head” in the NFL, it is now common knowledge that any one concussion is serious. For Welker, having suffered three is such a short period, only time will tell what transpires over the rest of his career.
Many WR’s through the history of the NFL have been forced to retire due to head-related injuries.
Welker is coming off of a year where he caught 83 balls for 778 yards and 10 TD’s, according to ProFootballReference.com. If Manning and company want to come close to their record-breaking output of a year ago, then they’ll need a healthy Welker in the fold.