The 24-hour cycle of parsing Wes Welker’s “stick it in Bill’s face,” line from last night had nearly reached it’s end, which means it’s time for the inevitable explanation of the Patriots receiver’s reaction to his 13-catch game after many less-active ones.
Welker, to the shame of every comedian ever who had to explain one that flopped, said “It was a joke,” and not intended as a sarcastic jab at coach Bill Belichick about his lack of action earlier this year.
“I don’t know what else to say about it,” Welker said, via Mike Rodak of ESPNBoston.com. “It was a joke. Bill and I, whether you believe it or not, have a good relationship, and it was a joke. I’ll make sure to keep that in-house going forward.”
It’s not the first time Welker’s had to explain himself for cracking wise (if you take things at face value and accept that’s what he was doing), as he was benched from a playoff game after making a string of foot jokes toward Jets coach Rex Ryan.
“Yeah, obviously. You just have to be careful with what you say,” Welker said. “Bill does a good job of challenging us, and being a great coach, and doing things that he needs to do, and I made a joke about it, and it won’t happen again.”
Belichick, the laugh riot that he is, said earlier in the day he hadn’t heard the remark, adding: “You should ask him about it then. What he meant by it, I don’t know.”
Try the veal. Don’t forget to tip your waitresses. He’ll be here all week.