Wilfork went down with a sprained left ankle in the second quarter of last Sunday’s win over Atlanta. A knee injury has kept Welker out of consecutive games for the first time in his career. But they were both in sweat pants and shells for the end-of-the-week session.
Mayo, the defensive leader in his second season, was on the practice field for the first time since he sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee in the first quarter against the Bills. He appeared to be wearing a brace under his sweats. “He looks great, can’t tell no difference,’’ Woods said.
“I think it was a good lift for everybody to see him back out there,’’ coach Bill Belichick said. “It was good to have him in a uniform.’’
Belichick gushed over the work Mayo has done to get himself back on the practice field - coming in early for treatment and film study. The recuperation time for Mayo’s injury is 6-8 weeks.
“He doesn’t spend half the day playing dominoes,’’ Belichick said. “He works hard. He’s here with a purpose he gets a lot done.’’
For all the optimism, though, the injury report was a dose of reality.
Belichick listed Welker and Wilfork as questionable and Mayo as doubtful for tomorrow’s game against the Ravens.
“Truly, the term questionable, that’s what it is,’’ Belichick said. “Just because they’re there today, that doesn’t really say where they’re going to be tomorrow or more importantly the next day.’’
The next day in this case is game day. And for Belichick, taking the step from getting medical clearance for a player to be on the field and deciding if that player is ready to play takes a lot of consideration.
“Sometimes after they go out and do something today they kind of realize tomorrow or Sunday that it doesn’t really improve much,’’ Belichick said. “Other guys, it’s kind of the start of a couple more days of further healing and then by Sunday they are ready to go.’’
There is no set formula, Belichick said. The same goes for determining if it’s worth putting a player on the field when he isn’t 100 percent.
