It's now undeniable. Welker is being used differently than before, but why?
It is now undeniable that something strange is happening with Wes Welker's role in the New England Patriots' offense.
We were able to go back to the tape last week and easily explain away the 24 plays he missed last week against the Tennessee Titans. That task isn't as easy to accomplish after this week's game against the Arizona Cardinals.
It wasn't about how much Welker was on the field Sunday. Most people will simply look at see that Welker played 59 of 81 snaps, caught five passes for 95 yards, and consider all the outcry from last week to be overblown and unnecessary.
Those people would be wrong.
Yes, Welker played a lot during Sunday's 20-18 loss. His snap percentage (73) puts him on par with how often he played during the 2008-2010 seasons, but how he was used against the Cardinals was different from anything we've seen before.
He was off the field for 17 of the 19 two-receiver sets New England ran, replaced by Julian Edelman, and spent the rest of his day lining up in place of the injured Aaron Hernandez, who suffered what is believed to be a high-ankle sprain on the third play of the game.
Before Hernandez's injury, Edelman was on the field for the first three plays as Welker watched from the sidelines. Sure, Welker would have seen some snaps throughout the day, but it didn't look like he was part of the game plan heading into action. He was targeted once in the first half and never became deeply involved in the offense until things started to get out of hand later in the game.
Even Welker, the man once referred to as the heart of the Patriots' offense by Tom Brady, was unsure about how he would be used heading into Sunday's game.
"I wasn't sure what was going to happen," Welker said during an interview on WEEI. "So I just go out there, and whenever my number's called, I go out and play. I don't know. It is what it is. Coaches coach, players play. That's all I can do."
Most of the talk will become moot moving forward since the offense will rely on Welker to fill the void created by Hernandez's injury, but it does highlight a shifting philosophy taking place within the New England offense.
Under former offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, the split in two-receiver sets would have came out opposite, with Welker playing the majority of snaps and Edelman filling in here and there.
But with new coordinator Josh McDaniels placing a bigger emphasis on the running game the first two weeks, the team seems to favor Edelman as a blocker. It's probably not a coincidence that 28 of the 46 plays Welker has missed this season have been runs.
It's also possible the Patriots don't trust Welker like they once did. His missed connection with Brady defined the Super Bowl loss, and he dropped a pass on the first series of the opener, opening the door for Edelman to replace him on the second series against Tennessee in one of the true head-scratching moments of this saga.
Welker also dropped a pass Sunday on the down preceding the blocked punt Arizona used to take the lead Sunday. If he catches that pass, New England still may not have won, but they would have had a better shot at doing so.
It's impossible to draw any conclusions right now since any observations from Sunday became null and void when Hernandez went down. The curtain was never lifted and we were never shown McDaniels' designs for Welker.
We'll have to wait for Hernandez to return before we truly know anything.