Seahawks CB Walter Thurmond agrees with Belichick on Welker's hit on Talib

Renton WA – Seahawks cornerback Walter Thurmond said he and his teammates are ready for the kind of plays that Bill Belichick this week called “one of the worst plays I’ve seen.” And he said that the perpetrator of that play, Wes Welker, gets away with it because of his stature in the league.

It was a play in which Broncos wide receiver Welker came across the field and hit Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib, delivering a knee injury and knocking New England’s top defender from the game.

“A deliberate play by the receiver to take out Aqib … no attempt to get open,” Belichick called it on Monday.

“We play a lot of man coverage so we know they’re going to have a lot of crossing routes like that,” Thurmond said. “We’re preparing for that situation to occur. We know that play concept is going to happen just because we play so much man.”

As for the legality of the play, Thurmond sided with Belichick and said the hit was “uncalled for.”

“You’re a receiver and you’re running right into the guy,” he said. “I don’t know the extent of the injury that Aqib had, but I thought we were supposed to protect football players in this league now. I guess not. I guess it only goes one way. It is what it is.”

Thurmond said some players get away with more than others.

“If you’re intentionally coming at somebody, it’s supposed to be a flag,” he said. “That’s what it’s supposed to be. They didn’t throw the flag on him. Some players get away with a lot more than other players depending on status and stuff like that, who they are. I think that’s just the nature of the game.

“He was just coming at him the whole time,” Thurmond continued. “That should be a flag, he should be getting fined. There’s a whole bunch of things that should happen in that situation. But I don’t know. I don’t run the NFL.”