Wes Welker

Former Patriots receiver Wes Welker, now a member of the Broncos, admitted in a meeting with the media in Denver on Sunday that he feels freer to speak his mind since parting ways with Bill Belichick.

“I feel like I can be myself a little more for sure,” Welker said, via Yahoo! Sports, adding that he’d received no pre-interview warnings from the Broncos. “Here? No. … All they told me was, ‘Just be yourself.’ ”

Welker, who signed a two-year, $12 million deal with Denver in the offseason, made it clear that he plans to use his acrimonious departure from New England as motivation this year.

“Wherever you can pull any sort of motivation that you need to use to go out there and play the way you need to play, I say use it,” Welker said when asked about proving that his success is not just due to the Patriots’ system. “So whatever it is, then yeah, I’ll definitely pull from wherever I can.”

Welker was very close with Tom Brady, and he said the quarterback — who publicly has said little about the issue — was not pleased that the team let Welker go after Brady renegotiated his deal to free up more money.

“You know, after it happened, obviously we talked and everything like that,” Welker said. “He was upset about it, and part of me was a little upset about it, too. But things happen for a reason, and I’m excited about the opportunities here and the type of team we have and things that we can do.”

Added Welker: “It is [a bummer], but I think he understands it, and I understand it. … It’s been going on for years and years. I’m not the first [Patriots] player that this happened to, and I definitely won’t be the last.”

That said, Welker indicated he harbors no animosity toward Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who claimed that Welker took a lesser deal in Denver.

“Different people are going to say different things at different times,” Welker said. “And I’m sure there’s a lot of things I’ve said in the media that I wish I could have back. But you live and you learn, that’s just the way it is. I have all the respect and admiration for Mr. Kraft and everything he’s done and how he treated me while I was there, so it doesn’t really bother me at all.”

One of Welker’s most memorable press conferences in New England came in January 2011 when he made numerous references to feet in the wake of Jets coach Rex Ryan‘s foot-fetish video. Welker was held out of the first offensive series for the ensuing playoff game against the Jets, which New England lost.

“You know what? I think I’ve lived and learned,” Welker sad. “And I hopefully would never put a coach in a position like that [again].”

Looking at this season, Welker said he expects big things — and maybe some surprises — from the Peyton Manning-led Broncos offense. But he’s not worried about replicating his incredible production with the Patriots (a league-high 672 receptions in six years).

“No doubt,” he said about the possibility that his stats will go down. “I don’t really care if they do or not. It’s not my goal. It’s not what I’m about or anything else. If I have to catch 112 balls, I don’t know if we’re going to be the team we want to be. I’ll catch as many as it takes to win, and whatever that is, that’s what it is. I just want to win. That’s the only reason I’m here.”

Bill Belichick and Tim Tebow (AP)

We’ve written about the Patriots, Bill Belichick and Tim Tebow on several occasions (and we expect to write about them again sooner rather than later), but the news Thursday from Belichick where he felt the need to comment on something he may or may not have said about Tebow is something new.

“I wouldn’t get into the probability of us pursuing any free agent,” Belichick told ESPN. “Every single player has strengths and weaknesses, but regardless of that, for anyone to have represented that is the way I feel about Tim Tebow is completely untrue, baseless and irresponsible. It is unfortunate that something so inaccurate was reported.”

1. In my experience covering the Patriots, I can’t remember him ever feeling the need to speak out saying he didn’t dislike a player. In fact, unless his team was playing them that week during the season, he rarely — if ever — comments on any player not on his roster. (“We’re just focused on our own team/game/preparation….” is the usual reply.) And I’m hard-pressed to recall more than two or three instances where he addressed something that was reported in the media, especially a report that’s more than a month old. (His post-Super Bowl XXXIX comments on Freddie Mitchell are the exception to the rule, but that was more about Mitchell’s dopey comments than anything else. And of course, there’s always his occasional showdown with old pal Charley Casserly.) But this is certainly out of character for him.

However, as Albert Breer of the NFL Network noted, the timing is interesting given the fact that Tebow was apparently spending time with Urban Meyer last weekend in Columbus.

Here’s what @fieldyates had from Belichick on TT profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/06/bel… Interesting timing. Tebow was hanging w/Urban in C-Bus last weekend.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) June 6, 2013

Add that to the fact that Belichick and Meyer remain close, and it’s not ridiculous to think that Meyer spoke to Belichick about his former quarterback and the reported comments. Belichick has done favors for former players and coaches in the past, and he certainly wouldn’t be above saying something to clear things up in this case.

2. Belichick has a genuine respect for Tebow, and what he’s been able to accomplish as a football player. That being said — as we have previously stated here — there’s a certain circus element that comes with the former Heisman winner. While that’s not wholly Tebow’s fault, he doesn’t exactly do his part to quiet things down. (In my experience, it was shocking to see him hold court in the Jets locker room after a horrifying November loss to the Patriots, good-naturedly laughing with the media.) That’s something Belichick would have an issue with.

3. None of this should be taken as a precursor to New England signing Tebow. (It’s striking that even though he was released more than a month ago, there’s been no report of a Tebow workout with the Patriots.) While I’m sure Tebow intrigues Belichick on some level as a football player, from a practical perspective, a marriage between the two doesn’t make much sense, at least right now. The Patriots are at least three-deep at any one of the skill positions where Tebow might fit. (Tight end? Running back? Punt protector?) And when you’re talking about his quarterbacking style, it certainly doesn’t mesh with the Patriots’ offensive scheme. (The idea of going from Tom Brady to Tebow would necessitate wholesale scheme changes.)

Despite his critics, there are things that Tebow does do well. As we wrote here, you don’t win the Heisman by accident. He’s a big guy who can run well and absorb punishment from defensive players. While he may not play quarterback in the NFL — that windup is just way to slow — he does have the physical tools to play somewhere in professional football. (We’re going to include the CFL in that equation.) But despite Belichick’s feelings, it doesn’t figure to be Foxboro.

Bill Belichick

Bill Belichick contradicted a report from last month that indicated the Patriots coach disliked Tim Tebow and didn’t want him in New England.

“I wouldn’t get into the probability of us pursuing any free agent. Every single player has strengths and weaknesses but regardless of that, for anyone to have represented that is the way I feel about Tim Tebow is completely untrue, baseless and irresponsible,” Belichick told ESPN on Thursday. “It is unfortunate that something so inaccurate was reported.”

Last month, a column from Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports quoted an “organizational source” as saying Belichick disliked Tebow as a player and there was “no chance” of him coming to New England.

Tebow is a free agent who was released by the Jets last month.

For more Patriots news, check out weei.com/patriots.

The  Patriots announced Thursday they have re-signed free agent linebacker A.J. Edds.

Edds spent part of the 2011 season on the New England 53-man roster and the practice squad. The 6-foot-4, 256-pounder originally entered the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick (199th overall) of the Dolphins out of Iowa in 2010. The 25-year-old spent his rookie season on Injured Reserve with a knee injury.