A discouraged New England wide receiver Wes Welkerfelt he let the Patriots down with a key fourth-quarter drop against the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI. It was a sentiment likely shared by many, including the supermodel wife of quarterback Tom Brady.
But Welker's teammates feel otherwise, especially safety James Ihedigbo.
On NFL Network
"NFL Replay" will re-air the
Giants' 21-17 win over the
Patriots in
Super Bowl XLVI on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 8 p.m. ET.
"You can never point fingers at anyone," Ihedigbo told The Boston Globe on Monday. "You look at the plays that Welker's] made all year long, how hard he played that game, and how hard he prepared for that game. We wanted it just as bad as [the [Giants] did. They just made some key plays at the end and came out on top, so hats off to them."
"If you look across the board, Wes made amazing plays all year long and even yesterday he did," Ihedigbo continued. "As a team, guys made numerous plays for us to even be in the position we were in last night. ... So you wear it as a team. You win and you lose as a team and we lost to a good football team."
The play in question was an incompletion from Brady to a wide-open Welker with just more than four minutes remaining and the Patriots clinging to a 17-15 lead. On second-and-11 from the Giants' 44, Brady found Welker running the seam on the left side and delivered a pass to the leaping receiver, who got both hands on the ball but missed it.
It was an assessment shared by Brady, who said after the game no one play lost the game for the Patriots.
"He's a hell of a player," Brady said of his favorite receiver, who led the NFL with 122 receptions. "I'll keep throwing the ball to him as long as I can. He's a phenomenal player and teammate. I love that guy."
