With feet to spare

SPORTING GOODS

This is hilarious:

Though he did not mention Jets coach Rex Ryan specifically, [Patriots wideout Wes Welker] managed to slip 11 references to feet or toes into his weekly meeting with reporters on Thursday, leading many to speculate that Welker was taking subtle jabs at the team's coach.

The coolest thing about this is that at no time did Welker give the game away; there weren't any sly looks or insinuating winks.

Well done, Mr Welker. You're as subtle with your verbal jabs as you are getting open on the gridiron.

Jesse Singal has more, but, at the risk of appearing disingenuous, it can be argued that no trash talk occurred at all. Certainly, Welker didn't do anything but use a number of turns of phrase that are pretty common. To accuse Welker of "stooping to a Ryan-esque level of trash talk, albeit in a far subtler, more clever way" seems a bit hyperbolic.

And, apparently, all of this excitement is leading somewhere.