Category Archives: New England Patriots

New England Patriots

Dimitri Patterson is showing more fight in court than he did on the field.

The former NFL cornerback has filed suit in Orlando against multiple news organizations, including last week against ESPN, for defamation after they published stories in August on his allegedly trying to dash out of a Miami-Dade courtroom.

Patterson is seeking $50 million in damages from ESPN for its story, in which then-reporter James Walker cited police in saying Patterson injured two officers while trying to leave the family court to avoid being arrested. The Miami Herald, which Patterson is also suing, reported the same details, again citing police. Other sites, including The Post, picked up on the reports.

The 34-year-old Patterson was a journeyman from 2005 to 2013, with stints in Washington, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Miami. He also was with the Jets in a memorably short stint in 2014, when he disappeared from training camp and went AWOL for two days. When he returned, he ripped then-coach Rex Ryan and -GM John Idzik, saying his agent had alerted them of his whereabouts.

The Jets cut him shortly afterward.

It was the fans who made Amirante’s most famous moment with the Rangers: his anthem before Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final, as the team was one win away from breaking a 54-year championship drought. The fans drowned him out. Amirante would later say it was the highlight of his career, even if his performance was rendered inaudible.

As for singing the anthem, which he did countless times at New York sporting events, Amirante contended it wasn’t a difficult song. “The problem is most people think too much about it,” he told Newsday in 2014. “I sing it like I’m saying my prayers at night. It just comes out.”

Amirante’s last performance at the Garden was on Feb. 25, before a Rangers game against the Detroit Red Wings.

Arnovitz: The Sixers have been hearing the murmurs — the playoffs are different and teams will lay off Ben Simmons, give him the Rajon Rondo treatment and force him to shoot. But you can’t sag on speed, and when Simmons gets rumbling in the open court, a defense has far more to worry about than a pull-up jumper from the Sixers point guard. Yes, Simmons will have some problem-solving puzzles to work against more prepared defenses, but he’ll find ways to hurt opponents, perimeter shots be damned.
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Titans cut Sylvester Williams one year into free-agent deal

As it turns out, Johnathan Hankins wasn’t the only AFC South defensive tackle who signed a multi-year free-agent deal in 2017 to be let go after only one season.

The Titans released defensive tackle Sylvester Williams on Saturday, according to the NFL’s official transaction report.

The move comes at a time when the Titans are pursuing free-agent defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who was cut by the Dolphins before his 2018 base salary of $16.985 million became fully guaranteed.

Pass to Arcobello neutral zone.He ended 18-for-27 passing for 191 yards and one touchdown and was sacked three times.His save percentage was 15 points better than that of partner Nikolai Khabibulin, and he ranked 12th save percentage among goalies with more than 100 played over that span: And yet Dubnyk was underappreciated.Zuttah was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft.

From the Browns’ perspective, that makes it clear that new G.M. John Dorsey does not think as highly of McCarron as Jackson did. Jackson was viewed as the driving force behind the attempted trade for McCarron last season, when Sashi Brown was the G.M. Now that Dorsey is running the Browns’ personnel department, they no longer view McCarron as favorably.

From the Bills’ perspective, it’s a move that makes a lot of sense: McCarron is going to cost about $9 million less against their salary cap this year than Taylor would have. And they’ve now added the 65th pick in the draft, which they might package as part of an attempt to move up in the draft and get the top quarterback on their board.

You can say, ‘Oh, he is not a starter’ or, ‘he is a starter.’ It doesn’t really make a difference.Hardaway scored 23 fourth-quarter points, making 8 of 11 shots, including three 3-pointers.Carr, who’s attempting to take the next step his progression must cycle through his options to break through a slump.

This is a big week for the Green Bay Packers – and of course, quarterback Favre.With one on and out the ninth, shortstop Alexi Amarista hit a two-run homer, averting a shutout and tying the game.Several current Indians and manager Terry Francona, who piloted the Red Sox for part of Posada’s career, watched from the visiting dugout.I think maybe he only got this card because the colts played against Peyton Manning….49ers_011

Giants to hire Mike Shula as offensive coordinator, report says

There are no shortage of prop bets for Timberlake’s performance, from his outfit choice (what color shoes he’ll wear for the first song and if he’ll be wearing a hat) to his set list (whether or not he’ll perform a Prince song).

I’d expect a couple songs from when Timberlake first went solo (“Cry Me a River” and “Rock Your Body”), followed by a compilation of his solo work since, including a bit of “SexyBack”, “What Goes Around … Comes Around”, “Suit and Tie”, and his latest smash from the Trolls movie, “Can’t Stop The Feeling!”.

McNabb and the Eagles were coming off a Super Bowl appearance against the New England Patriots. Unfortunately, that was one of the last times the Eagles really contended with McNabb under center. The following season, the team went 4-5 in his starts, as he missed seven games with a groin injury.

The hype surrounding Alexander going into the 2006 season was huge. He had been improving every season, and had just got done rushing for 1,880 yards and 27 touchdowns. Then, the curse struck. Alexander followed up a spectacular season by playing in just 10 games and rushing for 896 yards.

When Graham was traded to the Seahawks from the Saints in 2015, it was more about business than hard feelings, as he netted both center Max Unger and a first-round draft pick. The timing lines up with a potential welcome reunion for both sides.

What happened to Gronkowski? Gronkowski was concussed when Jaguars safety Barry Church landed a jarring hit to Gronkowski’s helmet during the Patriots’ 24-20 comeback win over the Jaguars. Church was flagged for unnecessary roughness and fined $24,309 for the hit.

What’s the latest from Super Bowl practice? The Patriots held Gronkowski out of practice for the entire bye week between the conference championship and the postseason. But Gronkowski participated in some of the Patriots’ football-specific drills on Saturday.

He caught a few uncontested passes in the portion of practice the Patriots allowed media to watch, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss. That suggests he’s close to being cleared for full participation. On Thursday, he finally got the OK from team doctors to resume full football activities.
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One Philadelphia fan left Minnesota with a priceless souvenir.

An Eagles fan has gone viral after being spotted Monday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport with a purple plastic seat from U.S. Bank Stadium following Super Bowl 52.

According to the Star Tribune, the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority security team is investigating the theft after the fan was caught on video with the seat partly concealed under his coat. He was later photographed with the seat strapped to his carry-on suitcase before boarding a plane bound for Charlotte, N.C.

“It was definitely a valuable experience to go back and watch Nick and what clicked with him and what made him successful a couple years ago,” Pederson said. “Change is good, we didn’t tweak a lot of the offense, but we wanted to make sure we had plays and concepts with the game plan so he was comfortable in executing.

“It was just a matter of him spending time with the guys. It was going to take repetition in practice. We knew in the building we would be OK with him. He just needed time.”

When Eagles players spoke about Foles’ performance in the playoffs all the way through Super Bowl 52, there was little talk of Wentz. Teammates are funny when it comes to rallying around quarterbacks — they tend to gravitate to the guy who’s leading and getting the job done in the moment.

To understand the two Bills, you have to go back to where it began for both: the swamps of New Jersey. That’s what ESPN Films and Rodgers smartly did by taping the interview inside the Giants locker room at MetLife Stadium. It took Rodgers three years to get the two legends together in one place. The only time the stone-faced Belichick chokes up is when he muses about his early days with the Giants, riding the stationary bike on Saturday mornings and breaking down game film.

Then coaching at Army, Parcells first met a teenage Belichick through his father, Steve, a longtime coach and scout for Navy. We learn how Parcells recruited a green Belichick and quickly made the bright young assistant his “go-to” guy. But the youthful special teams coach — called “Doom” for his surly demeanor — was “disregarded” by players because he didn’t look like an athlete. Eventually, though, Belichick earns the begrudging respect of one of the greatest to ever play the game: Lawrence Taylor.

“I cannot remember a game where we weren’t mentally prepared,” L.T. recalls. “He did prove to me that he knew what he was doing to the point where I became a Bill Belichick fan.”nike-youth-cardinals-013

Miami fails to capitalize on the turnover as it goes three-and-out and punts the ball back to the Raiders.

Weighted by attempts, the players who have attempted technical free throws so far this season have made 84.7 percent of their other foul shots. Some of this can be explained by the fact that players typically shoot better on their second attempt in a given trip to the free throw line, by a difference of about 4 to 5 percentage points, according to Matt Femrite’s research on Nylon Calculus. Based on that, we’d expect players to shoot about 2 to 2.5 percentage points worse on technical fouls. (The difference should be about half the gap from the first attempt to the second, since about half of all free throws are the second or third attempts.)

Michael Crabtree drops a third-down pass from Carr and the Raiders are forced to punt again. Miami will start its drive at its 45 with another chance to take the lead.

Miami fails to capitalize on the turnover as it goes three-and-out and punts the ball back to the Raiders.

Turnover, Oakland. The Raiders come up short on third down and are called for holding, moving them out of field-goal range. On the ensuing play, Carr drops back but is hit and loses the ball. Raiders offensive lineman Marshall Newhouse recovers the fumble and attempts to advance upfield, but he is tackled and coughs up the ball, giving it to Miami near midfield.

Kevin Johnson, CB, Houston Texans: Johnson left the game in the fourth quarter, and the Texans announced that he was being evaluated for a concussion.pacers_052

Panthers’ Luke Kuechly on pace to play Sunday vs. Buccaneers

It looks like good news on the injury front for the Panthers.
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Carolina linebacker Luke Kuechly ran out in full pads for practice on Wednesday, according to the Charlotte Observer.

League executives tried to show they understood the players’ concerns. Several league staff members presented a three-pronged action plan: expand the My Cause, My Cleats initiative; help convene more meetings with lawmakers to ramp up lobbying for players’ causes on Capitol Hill and, through the clubs, in statehouses across the country; and use the NFL’s platform to promote it all. The league had scrapped a staff idea to extend an olive branch to Kaepernick — who in October filed a collusion claim against the owners — by inviting him to visit the league headquarters.

Impact: It can be argued that no one player is tied into his team’s success more than Rodgers, who was again enjoying another superlative season with 13 touchdowns, three interceptions and 103.2 passer rating. Brett Hundley is now experiencing an NFL baptism-under-fire as Rodgers’ replacement. After losing two straight games since Rodgers was hurt, the Packers (4-3) must hope the Week 8 bye allows Hundley to get more up to speed before a once-promising season slips away.

Bowen: With Philip Rivers and the pass rush, the Chargers can stay in the mix in the AFC West. In Miami, don’t be surprised if Adam Gase’s system facilitates even more production than we expected with Matt Moore running the show.

Graziano: I had the Chargers as bounce-back contenders in the preseason, and even though they were awful out of the gate, it’s clear that the Broncos and Raiders aren’t without their flaws. The Chargers still have the AFC West’s best quarterback — all due respect to Alex Smith’s hot Alex Killorn Authentic Jersey start and Derek Carr’s ascendant talent — and that still means something.

Terrence Ross scored 15 points and Elfrid Payton had 13 points and nine assists. All five Magic starters had at least 10 points.

Brady now holds all or shares the important NFL wins records. His five Super Bowl victories are tied for most all-time with former 49ers and Cowboys linebacker Charles Haley. His 25 postseason victories are unparalleled. And he’d passed Favre and Manning in terms of total wins — regular season and playoffs — in 2016.

There are plenty of astonishing numbers in that record-setting run. He’s carved up the AFC East in his 18 years as the Patriots’ start. Brady is 25-8 against the Jets, 20-9 against the Dolphins, and a ludicrous 26-3 against the Bills.

He’s 102-19 at home in the regular season and 85-37 on the road. The only NFL division Brady has a losing record against is the since-defunct NFC Central — he threw three passes at the tail end of a blowout loss to the Lions in 2000. There are only two franchises against whom Brady has a losing record in the regular season — the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks

On Monday, Goodell and Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin sent a letter of support to the congressional sponsors of the Sentencing Reform and Correction Act, a bill designed to increase rehabilitation of people convicted of crimes.

According to ESPN, which is keeping a week-by-week tally of which professional football players protest this season during the playing of The Star-Spangled Banner, this past Sunday only 10 NFL players participated in protesting racial inequality by kneeling or refusing to stand during the national anthem—the fewest this season. Other players protested by raising fists during the song, staying in the tunnel or demonstrating before the anthem.sabres_006

I’ve continued to get better and better and better.

Cam Newton was MVP of the league in 2015, then bottomed out to a 52.9 completion percentage in 2016. Following offseason shoulder surgery and minimal training camp activity, Newton’s 2017 got off to a rocky start. But his completion percentage is 65.2, which would break his previous career high by 3.5 points if it held up. And his yards per attempt are at 7.9, which is a higher figure than he posted in his MVP season. Panthers people to whom I’ve talked are still saying they’re not worried about Newton or his health — that a slow start was expected after the offseason inactivity. They have faith and confidence in him. They just hope he rewards it by bouncing back off a down 2016. So far, the jury is out. Veteran Derek Anderson, who has started 47 career games but has won only 20 of those, is the backup.

Luck, who has missed 14 games over the past two-plus seasons, won’t put a timetable on when he’ll return, but he was adamant in saying that he will play this season. Pagano has already ruled him out for Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Brissett will continue to start until Luck is ready to start for the Colts (1-3).

“I wish I would wake up tomorrow morning and feel incredible and the whole thing was a dream,” Luck said. “But I know that’s not the case and I know that’s not the reality. And I understood when I elected to have surgery to try not to be surprised by anything, and understand it’s going to be a long process. A really, really long process. I’m not surprised in a sense that we’re here now.

“What I know is true, I’ve continued to get better and better and better. And at the end of the day, you take a weeklong snap shot and I know I’m better than I was at this point last week. I got to go out there and throw and do stuff in practice and it felt pretty darn good. That’s where my focus as to be.”vikings_114

How many jerseys can you really afford to own?

For the past three seasons, the Lions have worn a “WCF” memorial patch for former team owner William Clay Ford. The new uni set moves the memorial to the left sleeve, where it will become a permanent fixture, much like the Bears’ “GSH” sleeve memorial for George S. Halas.

Watkins says buying jerseys is a tough proposition these days and his company is absorbing the risk for fans.

“How many jerseys can you really afford to own?” Watkins said. “Wouldn’t it be nice to not only wear the players on your favorite team, but also be able to wear the jerseys of the players on your fantasy team?”

To see Mike Clay’s analysis of most (and least) advantageous WR matchups in Week 1, and for a downloadable cheat sheet of every matchup, you must be an Insider.

General manager Rick Spielman has invested in the offensive line this offseason, spending big to add a pair of new tackles in Riley Reiff and Mike Remmers. The interior of the line, anchored by rookie third-rounder Pat Elflein at center, might be a bigger concern now. The defense should be great, and if Bradford can stay healthy and one of the young receivers — most likely Stefon Diggs — breaks out, the Vikings have both the stars and the depth to challenge any team in the NFC.

KC Joyner, NFL writer: Chargers over Broncos. The Broncos overhauled their offensive line and have to face a Chargers squad that brings back nine front-seven players who each tallied 250 or more snaps last season. That group ranked second in pass pressure rate. Points will be at a premium, but the Los Angeles offense will post enough to pull off the upset.magic_024

Lamar Odom shares chilling reality of cocaine addiction

The Players’ Tribune has proven to be a unique source for retirement announcements, farewells and anecdotes. But today’s entry penned by Lamar Odom may be the most real and powerful piece published on the site to date.

Just a quick refresher — the former NBA Sixth Man of the Year was found unconscious in a Nevada brothel in 2015 after suffering several strokes and kidney failure. He fell into a coma for four days.

One source whose team has been trying to find a way to deal for Irving said this week that there does not seem to be anything of a deadline for the Cavs to make a decision. While the Cavs have been very focused and professional in their talks, this particular team did not have any sense of where they stood in the Cavs process, describing them as in “fact finding mode,” not necessarily deal making mode. That can always change quickly, but there doesn’t seem to be much urgency to find closure.”

The report goes on to say that if there a front-runner emerges, that team would likely be the Suns simply because a trade for Josh Jackson might be the most appealing to LeBron James. The Suns reportedly though are not discussing deals that include Jackson or Devin Booker, but that very well could be because Jackson does not become trade eligible until this coming week.

The Heat, Timberwolves and Knicks are all still working to try to get a trade done, but no specific names have been mentioned and Andrew Wiggins is reportedly untouchable for the Timberwolves, so they may be out of the running entirely with a solid four that includes Wiggins, Jimmy Butler, Karl-Anthony Towns and newly acquired Jeff Teague.

For now we wait to see what happens, just don’t hold your breath because Altman may not make a move for a while.
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