07.05.2016, 03:19
With NFL training camps underway, the league is abuzz with position battles, injury news and rookies making an immediate impact. Nike Shox R4 Uk . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NFL beat. Getting An Edge Training camp is still in its early stages, but it appears a frontrunner is emerging in the Oakland Raiders backfield. According to Sports Illustrateds Robert Klemko, Darren McFadden has the edge over free-agent pickup Maurice Jones-Drew. Klemko also mentioned the Raiders will likely go with a committee of running backs this season as McFadden hasnt played a full season in his six years in the NFL. Jones-Drew signed a three-year contract with the Raiders in the off-season after spending the first eight years of his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Not Going To Push It New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has been practicing in full pads this training camp, but that might be about it before Week 1 rolls around. According to the Boston Globe, Gronkowski wont likely play in any of the Patriots preseason games as hes still working his way back from a torn ACL and MCL which caused him to miss the second half of last season. "I feel like Ive been making a lot of improvement week to week. No setbacks, just every single week doing more, running more, putting more pressure on my leg, so its coming along well," he told the Boston Globe. The 25-year-old has not been taking any hits during practice so far in training camp. Big Loss For Big D The Dallas Cowboys defence took a big blow on Wednesday with the news that rookie defensive end Demarcus Lawrence will be out for the foreseeable future with a broken foot. According to ESPNs Todd Archer, Lawrence will be need surgery on his right foot and will be out for 8-10 weeks. The injury occurred when Tyron Smith tackled the rookie to the ground during one-on-one drills on Tuesday. The Cowboys selected Lawrence with 34th pick in the 2014 Draft out of Boise State. Rookie Troubles Struggling rookies during their inaugural training camp comes as no surprise, and Detroit Lions first round pick Eric Ebron is no exception to the rule. According to the Detroit Free Press, the tight end has dropped an "inordinate number" of passes over the first couple days of camp. Head coach Jim Caldwell said hes not worried about Ebrons early struggles and attributes it to the complex nature of the position. Having said that, Caldwell and the Lions brass expects the University of North Carolina product to play a major role this year alongside Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson. "Hes got to learn and adjust and theres a lot of things going through his mind right now," Caldwell said to the Detroit Free Press. "But I think youre going to see that hell just continue to improve, get a little bit better because he does have an unusual skill set." Back At It The Houston Texans got some good news on Wednesday with running back Arian Foster returning to practice. According to the Houston Chronicle, Foster returned after missing the last two days with a hamstring injury. After practice, Foster spoke to the media for the first time since the end of the 2013 season and revealed next to nothing. The 27-year-old responded with some variation of "Im just trying to be the best teammate I can be," to every question asked by the reporters. Wide receiver Andre Johnson missed his second day of camp in a row on Wednesday with a hamstring injury. Off The List The Cincinnati Bengals will have one of their cornerstones on defence back in the fold sooner than later as Geno Atkins was taken off the physically unable to perform list on Wednesday. The defensive tackle can now practice after he missed the second half of last season with a torn right ACL. Atkins will likely take it easy over the next few days and might not see a lot of action in the preseason, but should be ready to go in Week 1. The 26-year-old is a two-time Pro Bowler. Nike Air Zoom Structure 18 Mens . -- Jonathan Martins early weeks with his new San Francisco 49ers teammates have been spent recovering from mononucleosis and regaining strength zapped by the viral infection. Cheap Nike Shox Online . MLS will maintain the 34-match schedule used in 2011, when the leagues 18 teams each played two matches against the other teams - one home and one away - only make changes to prevent the season from expanding to 36 fixtures.There is no trophy for finishing fourth in the Premier League. Just ask Arsenal fans. However, Arsene Wenger has repeatedly told anyone willing to listen that finishing in that spot is more important than winning a cup competition. Of course, he would say that. The Gunners have not won a trophy since the 2005 FA Cup but have qualified for the Champions League for 16 years in a row. For many years, Arsenal finishing in the top four should not have been considered a success. Last March, however, Wengers men lost 2-1 at White Hart Lane to fourth-placed Tottenham and trailed their North London rivals by seven points with ten games to spare. Spurs would go on to falter, while Arsenal hit top gear, going on to maintain their qualification record for Europes elite club competition. Andre Villas-Boas team finished fifth, one point behind Arsenal for the second straight year. Over 38 matches the margin was as slim as it was painful. Tottenham became the first team in Premier League history to get to 72 points and not finish in the top four. The 1.89 points per game was their most successful season point-wise since 1967. Yet, nobody knew or cared. They had finished outside the top four, missed out on the Champions League and were about to lose their best player in Gareth Bale. Bales brilliance last season made him virtually irreplaceable. In the 17 Premier League games he scored in last season Tottenhams record was 14 wins, two draws and one loss. He was that important. However, under the guidance of new technical director Franco Baldini, Spurs had a fabulous summer in the transfer market, spending over 100 million pounds on Roberto Soldado, Etienne Capoue, Paulinho, Vlad Chiriches, Nacer Chadli, Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen. None of those players were Bale, but Bale was winning Tottenham matches last season which regularly featured players such as Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone, Clint Dempsey and Benoit Assou-Ekotto. "We are stronger than the previous year, we had problems last year when we had a couple or replaced some key players, now we have quality in depth," said Villas-Boas after a win over Norwich earlier this season. Quality in depth has not led to an improvement so far. The 2013/14 season was supposed to be a season where Spurs fans wouldnt be reminded of the loss of Bale. Sixteen games into the Premier League season and the White Hart Lane faithful are still waiting to move on. If their Premier League campaign took a wrong turn in a recent 6-0 thumping at Man City, it officially went off the rails on Sunday when they were humiliated 5-0 at home to Liverpool. "This is a game all about the brilliance of Liverpool," preached the commentator at the conclusion of the match, and although Brendan Rodgers side performed very well, the harsh reality for Villas-Boas was his side were absolutely pathetic. Sure, Luis Suarez scored at least one goal, of his two, that few players in the game could have scored, Jordan Hendersons runs from deep terrorized Tottenhams makeshift back four and Paulinhos red card at 2-0 didnt help, but anyone who could make a claim that Tottenham didnt deserve to lose by five goals would be missing the point. They were outclassed in all departments by a Liverpool team who last season won just one game from 12 against the top six. It was an alarming defeat that even his admirers struggled to back him after. It was a minority group growing quieter by the week. By Monday morning, when he was sacked, few felt it was the wrong decision. You see, the 36-year-old does not endear himself to others. Publicly, this season he attacked his own fans, his own players and the media. When he said his team needed to be ashamed of themselves following the loss at Manchester City those in his camp could have said the language barrier may have been to blame for a misguided, harsh attack on his players. However, when he took on the teams supporters following a home win against Hull City there was nothing for his backers to hide behind. "This victory belongs to the players, they did it themselves, playing in a very difficult atmosphere, with almost no support coming. We have a wonderful set of fans but I am pretty sure they can do better and they know they can do better." It was the sort of quote, Jose Mourinho wouldnt have even got away with. It was a remarkable statement from a man who has had been at the club for less than 18 months, and achieved nothing as a manager in England. A win in the league cup a few days later, against Hull again, apparently, according to Villas-Boas, saw the fans get back to the level the manager demanded. However, football fans have long memories and the manager had picked on the wrong group. His next target was the media. After drawing 2-2 in the week, following the loss to Man City, he said: "the pressure this week was aggressive and agenda driven, (I am) very fortunate to have a group of players who responded in this manner to show the unity of the group." There is little doubt that some writers, and radio personalities, in England did not believe Villas-Boas is good enough to manage Tottenham. However, targeting certain individuals for things they wrote, online and in the newspaper, showed a touchy, oversensitive side from Villass-Boas at a time when he needed to stay away from the headlines. Nike Zoom Fit Agility Red Black Mens Training Shoes. He is not a man blessed with the charisma of Mourinho - very few are - but in his media interviews, through the directness of his answers, comes confidence and a self-assurance that would point towards not caring what others think. Yet, the current court of public opinion is England, a country, yet to be convinced by a man who Chelsea fired less than a season into the job, and easily influenced by what pundits and writers have to say. It is a battle that Villas-Boas, who was hired, for a reason, to take charge of two huge clubs in England before he turned 35, could only win by proving himself with his team. And that is where he needed to turn, to his players, to find the vindication he so clearly needed. However, the players, bankrolled by Daniel Levy, and trusted by Baldini, to deliver, so far did not perform anywhere close to the level Tottenham require and thats why Villas-Boas has lost his job. The nonsense in the media, making him bigger than the club, certainly contributed to it but ultimately he didnt get the best out of the players and the way they were humiliated at home to Liverpool is sure to send thoughts of doubt into the players mind about their manager. Once that happens, a change is necessary. Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was signed to excel behind a high back line but he repeatedly made poor judgements coming off his line and has costed the team a number of goals already this season. The 6-0 loss at the Etihad embarrassed the incredibly high line their defence play with and they were able to take seven points from a possible nine following that when they sat deeper, yet they returned to that style against Liverpool and were badly exposed in that area again. It is clear Capoue and Michael Dawson have no understanding together but the fact the manager decided that approach at the start, and stuck with it throughout the game, leaves many to question his tactical acumen. Surely, Capoue, covering for many injuries at the centre back position, would have been helped by playing closer to his goalkeeper and keeping Suarez in front of him more. Further up the pitch confusion remained. Against Manchester United, Spurs started, and finished with, three central midfielders for the first time, but Paulinhos inclusion, alongside Sandro and Moussa Dembele, was merely to play off the front striker, pushing the wingers slightly deeper in a formation that could be labelled 4-4-1-1. That is how he began the match against Liverpool, but by the time Paulinho was sent off, he had gone from being the most attack-minded central midfielder to the deepest holding midfielder behind Lewis Holtby and Chadli, after Sandro left through injury and the ineffective Dembele was substituted. Paulinho is one of the clubs best players and his manager needed to decide whether he is best suited as an attacking midfielder, like he played at Corinthians, or as a defensive midfielder, sitting deeper and making occasional runs forward, like he does for Brazil. Spurs could have played a midfield three the way Liverpool did - having one holder and two runners in front of him - but that requires their wide players to perform and this season this has not been a strong point for Tottenham. In Soldado, they have signed a player who scored all of his La Liga goals last season in the penalty box. He needs service. He is certainly culpable for the clubs issues in front of goal as well, but Villas-Boas system did not get the best out of his wide players with many cutting in too often, and those staying out wide delivering far too many poor crosses. It is easy to point to the many shots on goal and the brilliant performances of David De Gea and Tim Krul, in particular, to deny them in recent matches but there is a glaring issue with their unity in attack. Too many goals have come from long-range shots, errors by their opponents or penalty kicks and too few have come from moves created by themselves. The Villas-Boas high defensive line has some strengths but the fact is he has just 22 clean sheets in 81 Premier League games as a manager. Games come thick and fast this time of year and we are less than two weeks away from the Premier League season being half over. Villas-Boas ran out of time to find a system and style of play that can get the best out of his players. On Sunday he disagreed, saying: "I do not need to convince anybody, our run in the other competitions have been magnificent, our form in the Premier League is not there but our ambition to win trophies is still the same, the ambition to qualify for the Champions League is still the same." It turned out beating up on the likes of Aston Villa, Hull (on penalties), Anzhi, Tromso and some team called Sheriff meant little at this time. A trophy for the fans would be great but at the moment many of those matches have become an inconvenience where the form simply does not translate to the league. Finishing fifth last season, and not fourth, denied Villas-Boas a real European theatre to perform, allowing him time to get over any issues he has domestically. There is no trophy for finishing fourth in the Premier League. But there is little doubt it offers a manager real security. Just ask Arsene Wenger. Cheap China Jerseys