FOXBORO — When the Patriots battle the Miami Dolphins on Sunday in a pivotal AFC East matchup, Wes Welker will be returning to one of his first homes away from home — Miami.

Is he looking forward to it?

“Absolutely,” Welker said. “I’ll get back to the warm weather and things like that. This is a good week to get back down to Miami.”

Like his alma mater, Texas Tech, which took a chance on a kid from Oklahoma City who was a little too small and a little too slow, the Dolphins looked past Welker’s perceived shortcomings and gave him a chance.

Welker rewarded both Texas Tech and Miami.

At Texas Tech, the talented 5-foot-9 wide receiver left as the NCAA’s career-record holder for punt-return yards (1,761) and punt-return touchdowns (8). He also recorded 259 receptions for 3,096 yards and 21 touchdowns.

He was not drafted in 2004 despite an outstanding collegiate career, but the San Diego Chargers gave him a tryout. Even though he averaged 25.5 yards per punt return in the preseason, the Chargers cut him.

He signed with the Dolphins a week later, and in just three seasons playing for the Dolphins he became the franchise leader for both kickoff-return yardage (3,756) and total returns (166), and he ranks second in Dolphins history in punt-return yards (1,232). He led the Dolphins in receptions (67) in 2006, and since the Patriots couldn’t stop him, New England head coach Bill Belichick decided to trade 2007 second- and seventh-round draft picks for Welker.

“Wes is an outstanding player,” Belichick said recently. “Playing against us, he killed us just about every time we played him. The only way we could handle him was to really double-cover him. He also hurt us in the return game. In fact, in one game he even kicked off and kicked field goals against us and killed us there, too, when [Olindo] Mare got hurt in pregame warmups, so I think that just kind of speaks to Wes’ competitiveness, versatility and his total skills set.

“He’s a tough player. He’s productive on offense catching the ball, running with the ball. He’s a productive returner. … He’s one of our hardest workers.”

Welker amassed more catches, receiving yards and touchdowns in one season as a Patriot last year — 112 catches for 1,175 yards and eight touchdowns — than he did in his entire three-year NFL career before he got to New England (96 catches for 1,121 yards and 2 TDs).

Welker’s 112 catches matched Cincinnati’s TJ Houshmandzadeh for the most in the NFL last season.

After that, Welker, the workhorse of the Patriots’ passing attack, said playing for the Patriots was a perfect situation for him.

“I’m blessed with a good situation and a good team here, and I’m excited about the opportunity that I’m getting with this team,” Welker said.

This year, Welker continues to be outstanding.

Thursday night against the Jets, he became the only player in the NFL to catch six or more passes in each of the first 10 games of the season, and he hopes to add to that record against his former team on Sunday.

Welker is ranked second, behind Houshmandzadeh (73), for most receptions this season, with 72 for 718 yards and a touchdown. He is averaging 71.8 receiving yards per game.

In the Pats’ first meeting with the Dolphins this season, Welker made six catches for 55 yards and ran once for 19 yards.

“It’s a big game,” Welker said. “Divisional games like this are always big, especially as tight as our division is. We’ve got to go out there and make sure that we’re playing our best ball and do the best we can…We’re definitely going to have to bring our best game to have an opportunity to win.

“We just have to make sure we come out and play hard from the get-go and play hard for 60 minutes.”

roblee@projo.com