Like many of us, Wes Welker is day to day. Although, unlike most of us, he’s recovering from a torn anterior cruciate and damaged medial collateral ligaments in his left knee.

Welker was one of the Patriots on the sidelines when camp opened on Thursday morning, according to Patriots.com, joined by WR Darnell Jenkins, WR Sam Aiken and DL Ron Brace. The no-shows include OG Logan Mankins, who is not under contract, and DE Derrick Burgess, who was an unexplained absence.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick, as he is wont to do, placed Welker and the other Patriots in the inevitable ”day-to-day” category. That’s likely right where Welker will stay until the moment (and maybe even after) he returns to practice, and in the meantime we’re not holding our breath for more specific updates from Belichick.

“[He’s] like everybody else who has had an ACL [injury],” Belichick said. ”It’s a long rehab. Players go through different stages of it. You work on things and improve on them and if there are no setbacks, then you go to the next level. If you hit a little sticking point then you back off and wait until that clears up and move ahead. There’s a long way to go and we’ll see how that whole process takes place. I think the last 10 to 20 percent on those injuries is the hardest part to get back. We’ll see how it goes.”

Welker is technically on the active PUP list, but can return to practice at any time, and he counts against the 80-man roster.

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