Posted by Will BrinsonThe pretty much out-of-nowhere deal that sent Randy Moss from the Patriots to the Vikings caught almost everyone by surprise (you could make a case that Jay Glazer and Bill Simmons saw it coming). That includes his teammates, apparently.
Wes Welker, for instance, said that he was caught off guard by the deal, per Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
"I was a little bit surprised," Welker on Wednesday's conference call with reporters. "Obviously Randy is such a great player and such a great guy and everything like that. It is hard to go out there and play without a guy who had been here for such a long time. But at the same time you trust in coach [Bill] Belichick and the decisions he makes and you roll with them and move on."
Although maybe only having a "little bit" of surprise is more indicative that Welker saw it coming -- there were some quotes following the deal from the Pats top receiver that indicate he might not have been that shocked to see Moss get shipped out.
Right now, though, no one's going to say anything to add any more gas to the likely simmering fire of Moss wanting to show his old team they made a mistake.
“I’m lucky I don’t have to defend him," Tom Brady said, via Mike Reiss. "I’m sure he’ll want to come out & have a great game against us."
That's all but guaranteed -- Moss has a pretty good history of showing up against teams that spurned him (see: his stats against the Dallas Cowboys for passing on him in the draft). Although if he's trying to catch Tavaris Jackson's lame ducks on Sunday, he might be so upset with his move back to Minnesota that he'll forget how New England shipped him out of town.
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