Lindsay H. Jones, USA TODAY Sports
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — It was supposed to be the day that Wes Welker showed up at work and received clearance to practice — one of the final hurdles to pass before he'd be deemed able to play in Sunday's season opener.
But Welker was allowed inside Denver Broncos' headquarters only briefly Wednesday morning, enough time to stand in front of a team meeting and apologize for a four-game suspension that began Tuesday night, when the NFL upheld Welker's punishment for a positive test for a banned amphetamine. By the time the Broncos took the field, Welker was gone, and he won't be allowed back until Oct. 6.
"Wes just wanted us to know how important this team is to him, how much we mean to him, and what he's going to do when he gets back," tight end Julius Thomas said. "There is nothing he can do to change where he is at right now, but we know that when he comes back, he'll be a man on a mission and we're looking forward to embracing him when that day comes."
Welker's suspension came as a surprise to the Broncos only in its timing, so late on Tuesday that coaches had already spent the day planning as if Welker would be able to be on the field against the Indianapolis Colts. When the team received definitive word that Welker's appeal had failed — he missed two practices last month to attend the hearing — those plans were scrapped.
The Broncos were instead left to devise a plan for who will fill Welker's role as the team's primary slot receiver, a trusty third-down weapon for Peyton Manning and proven red-zone threat who had 10 touchdowns last season.
Welker, meanwhile, gets five weeks away from football (four game weeks, and Denver's bye), time the Broncos are hoping Welker will use to stay in shape while also allowing himself to completely recover from his latest concussion.
The concussion Welker suffered in a preseason game on Aug. 23 was his third in the last 10 months.
"Sometimes, these things are blessings in disguise. I'm sure this extra (five) weeks will give him plenty of time to heal," head coach John Fox said.
Welker's suspension is just the latest in a string of off-field issues that have plagued the Broncos in recent years. He's the second significant contributor to get in trouble this year, joining kicker Matt Prater, who is serving a four-game ban for an alcohol-related substance abuse policy violation. The Broncos also lost Von Miller to a six-game ban last year and former Bronco D.J. Williams to a nine-game suspension in 2012.
It's an ugly track record for one of the NFL's best teams. But the Broncos survived Miller's suspension — they went 6-0 without him — and a variety of other issues last year, including Fox's emergency heart surgery, to win the AFC championship.
Still, a suspension for a former team captain, a veteran player with a sterling off-field reputation, came as a bombshell. This isn't an ACL tear, or even a head injury. This should have been preventable.
"Losing Wes is a self-inflicted wound. It's different than an injury, but I still put it in the adversity category," Manning said.
"You find out a little bit about your team, and can you handle it? It's easy when everything is going smooth and you don't have any kind of adversity. Hopefully last year will have prepared us for these types of situations," Manning said. "The third year running we've had a starting player suspended. That's not something the Broncos want to brag about, but it's the reality. We have been able to win games despite that. Says something about the way we've handled and persevered through some circumstances we would rather not have been there. There's no question it's a test, and we'll see how we handle this test."
The Broncos made moves in recent months and weeks to prepare for time without Welker, for concussion or legal reasons. Denver signed versatile receiver Emmanuel Sanders in March, and he's expected to spend more time lining up in the slot in Welker's absence. Denver also kept undrafted rookie receiver Isiah Burse, a pure slot receiver and kick returner, on the 53-man roster, and on Wednesday promoted receiver Nathan Palmer off the practice squad
Tight end Jacob Tamme could also see more work, particularly on third downs, and second-round pick Cody Latimer might receive some of Welker's red zone targets.
"The players that are here, we'll stick together, raise our level of play and try to persevere," Manning said. "It won't be easy. It would be disrespectful to and inaccurate to say it's an easy transition to lose Wes Welker. It's a challenge and one our team has accepted and we're going to try to find way to overcome it."
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Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.
PHOTOS: 2014 NFL PLAYER SUSPENSIONS
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