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During Peter King’s MMQB feature on Tom Brady on Monday, PK slipped in a reference to injured Patriot receiver Wes Welker. While the article did little to shed light on Welker specifically, the New England Patriot receiver is far from an afterthought these days.

These days, the 29-year-old Patriot is hanging in Oklahoma these days, which is home for him. However, he’s spending a lot of time answering questions regarding his availability for the 2010 season.

Not only did Welker tear up his ACL and MCL in his left knee during the Patriots’ regular season closer versus Houston but he is also trying to recover after surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff.

Many believe that Welker will not be back for the season opener on September 12. Trying to repair those two injuries is a tall task but Welker is a firm believer that he can get that done but he just doesn’t know when he will be back on the field.

“It’s so early right now, it’s hard to put any sort of timetable on it,” he said. “My main deal is just working hard and putting myself in the best position possible to be ready whenever I’m ready. No telling when that’s going to be or how long it’s going to take, but all I can do is just work hard.”

It’s hard to imagine Welker being ready to go out of the gate One of the oft-used theories regarding ACL/MCL’s is that it takes two years for a player to return to some sort of normalcy in physical abilities.

Welker’s game is cutting and making sudden movements. I can’t imagine a worse injury for a player of his type to suffer.

Thus, New England’s development of mini-Welker (Julian Edelman) will be a key to New England’s offensive success this season.

It remains to be seen when exactly Welker will return. Nonetheless, those expecting Welker to pick up from where he left off upon his return, are likely to be mighty disappointed.

It will be quite some time before Welker can get back to full tilt.