Welker can do it all for Dolphins

Hold on. Why start in New England? Why not begin in Oklahoma City? At the Welker house? At a party where 50 people stood, upon the demand of Heritage Hall coach Rod Warner, every time Wes appeared on TV? Where Wes’ mother, Shelley, a labor and delivery nurse, couldn’t help thinking about what her younger son used to do for Warner’s team and was now doing again for the Dolphins?

“He can do anything,” Shelley Welker said.

“Wes never came off the field for us,” Warner recalled. “He would run 80 yards for a touchdown, throw up, kick the extra point, then go kickoff. We wore him out.”

So shouldn’t we wear out the story of what 5-foot-9 Wes Welker did Sunday – returning five punts and five kickoffs, while also kicking a 29-yard field goal, one extra point and three decent kickoffs himself as the emergency replacement for the gimpy Olindo Mare?

The Dolphins signed Welker three weeks ago, after Lamont Brightful bombed as a returner, and the Chargers had surprised Welker by letting him go. Then Mare hurt his calf this week, putting his status in doubt.

“I told them I could kick,” Welker said.

A long way to not score

Carolina’s Julius Peppers had a 101-yard interception return against Denver that, incredibly, did not result in a touchdown.

It was the longest interception return in NFL history to not result in a touchdown.

The Panthers’ defensive lineman intercepted Jake Plummer’s pass 4 yards deep in the end zone and took off down the sideline. But with Peppers running out of steam, Broncos receiver Rod Smith chased him down at the 3.

Peppers lost the ball and it went into the end zone, where Smith recovered, but Carolina challenged the play and kept the ball when referee Larry Nemmers ruled Peppers was down before he lost the ball.

Peterson done for season

Julian Peterson, the 49ers’ All-Pro linebacker, will miss the rest of the season after tearing his left Achilles’ tendon late in the first quarter of San Francisco’s win over Arizona.

Peterson hopped off the field after the Cardinals’ L.J. Shelton hit him with a low block. Early in the second quarter, he was taken to the locker room on a cart.

“I’m disappointed that I went out on a play like that,” Peterson said. “The guy couldn’t take me down, so he kind of leg-whipped me. He hit me in the right spot and took me out at my Achilles’, but I can’t do nothing about that.”

The two-time Pro Bowl player had a team-best 2 1/2 sacks in his first four games this season for the Niners.

Around the league

Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer wore a sticker on his helmet honoring former teammate Pat Tillman, who was killed in Afghanistan in April, even though Plummer expects the NFL to fine him for it. Plummer was warned of the fine before last week’s game. … Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister has signed a seven-year contract that will enable Baltimore to keep the Pro Bowl player through 2010. … Pro Bowl kicker Mike Vanderjagt and starting tight end Marcus Pollard were inactive due to injuries for the Colts.