Interior » ins, but youve got to go out there and continue

In Arizona, the Cardinals lose Tyrann Mathieu for the year with a ACL and LCL knee injury. In Carolina, the Panthers lose Jonathan Stewart with an MCL knee injury. But the most devastating season-ender was Rob Gronkowski and his ACL and MCL knee injury with the New England Patriots. The Patriots will rebound somehow to remain competitive but being competitive and winning in the playoffs are two different tests. Players get injured but for Gronkowski, this is difficult to comprehend and accept. On the positive side, he is a young, fourth-year player and youth and the ability to heal effectively do go together. On the negative, for a young player, Gronkowski has an old body of football battles. Two back surgeries at the University of Arizona, missing his senior year, three arm surgeries over three years with New England and now a major knee surgery that, as we have learned by watching RG3, takes more than six months to recover from. His biggest battle to get back will be that he has to do this on his own and often all alone. Football rehabilitation is not a team sport, it is an individual challenge that you have to look at as a job at which to excel and a time commitment that ends an off-season of enjoyment. Every now and then, I get a streak of jealousy over the amount of money pro football players make and how fast, but then I lose that when I consider how short of a career it is and how fast the injuries can compound. In Cleveland, the most talked about player this week will be Browns defensive back TJ Ward because he is the weapon that took out Gronkowski. Yes, he could have make the tackle higher around the hips but would have probably bounced off the hips and Gronkowski would have made another five yards. Or he could tackled him around the shoulders and been taken for 10 yards trying to wrestle the 66" 260 lbs tight end to the ground. Ward is listed at 510" and 200lbs so it was his only choice to take the legs. If he didnt, he would have been criticized and graded down the next morning in the review of the game. The more negative grades you have, the less significance you have in value. No choice for Ward at that moment in time. Pivotal Discussion I dont know who the best quarterback is in NFL football but of the top four that have won Super Bowls, here is what I think. Tom Brady is the best pressure quarterback in football and has exceptional leadership qualities. What he has been able to do with extreme limitations of time is second to none. With two minutes to go on your own 20-yard line and needing a touchdown, Tom Brady is the best. Peyton Manning is #1 in terms of preparation and in-game adjustment. So many times the best offensive possession for Denver is the first one as that becomes the first points scored in the game. Then as the game moves on, Manning figures it out. What he figures out I am not sure but so many times, the second half is dominated by Denver no matter what has happened in the first half. Nobody can run their offence like Manning. Drew Brees has the best footwork and awareness. Cris Collinsworth showed on Sunday Night Football how Brees goes from one opportunity to another downfield, not only in the game but in the pre-game. Later, it was visually demonstrated how polished and precise his footwork and throwing motion work together. Pocket awareness is having the ability to feel a pass rush but not see it. Some quarterbacks never get it; Brees has mastered it. No one has a better arm or a more relaxed demeanor on the field than Aaron Rodgers. If there is anxiety inside Rodgers in the middle of a game, I dont see it. It amazes me how composed and relaxed he remains from play to play. Confidence yes, ability yes but also a gift of knowing or having the skill to focus on what is important and dismiss what is not in any given moment. And with that gift, he has the most accurate and velocity intense arm. If ARodgers comes back for the Dallas game, everything will change for the Packers. Overall, I pick Aaron Rodgers as my number 1 quarterback. Capital Demise In Washington, you can see the end coming. I dont think players give up on a team, coach or year. The competition for an NFL job is too heavy and everything is on video to be re-evaluated all off-season over and over and over. But I do think players play with different intensity levels depending on weather, opposition, one-on-one competition and free agency. When you give up a run for a touchdown, a pass for a touchdown, a punt for a touchdown and a kick return for a touchdown, there is something deeply wrong. The value of a coach is how the players respond and the Washington Redskins did not. You cant fire 53 players, only the boss. Time To Sit In Denver, I hope the Broncos sit Wes Welker until the playoffs. Within one month, he has been diagnosed with two concussions and both on the same type of pattern, a crossing route in between the hash marks about 10 yards downfield. Thats linebacker territory. Also, I guess the conversation about Peyton Mannings ability to play effectively is cold weather is over. Four touchdowns and 397 yards answered that question against Tennessee . Tough To Watch Finally, the Monday Night Football game was painful to watch for two reasons. First, it was brutally cold and by the fourth quarter, everybody was ready to go home; in the stands, on the field, everybody. Secondly, it was tough to watch the slow but consistent disintegration of the Dallas defence. Salary cap limitations have been a good thing for football as it forces competitive balance but when mismanaged, you see weakness in personnel that is normally depth players who will never be starters. That has caught up to the Cowboys. They can still win the NFC East when they face the Eagles in Philadelphia on December 29, but by no means is it a sure thing based on Monday night. Pekka Rinne Predators Jersey .com) - The New York Rangers hope to punch their ticket to the second round when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for a Game 6 battle at Wells Fargo Center. Dante Fabbro Predators Jersey . Listen to the Rangers vs. Kings live on TSN Radio starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. You can also stream the post-game press conferences live on TSN. http://www.authenticpredatorspro.com/Mattias-ekholm-predators-jersey/ . Right-hander Todd Redmond took the loss. Jose Bautista hit his second home run of the spring. Here are a handful of tidbits from around camp: Hutchison impressive The Blue Jays are being cautious when talking about their young arms but internally, excitement is building over the way Drew Hutchison is looking and performing this spring. Colton Sissons Predators Jersey . Chelsea ripped apart Hull inside 25 minutes at Stamford Bridge, with the early goals from Oscar and Frank Lampard securing a 2-0 victory. While Lampard had earlier missed a penalty, Roberto Soldado had no such trouble from the spot for Tottenham, scoring on his debut to clinch a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace. Kyle Turris Jersey .Cullen scored the go-ahead goal at 13:47 of the third period and Nashville beat the slumping Dallas Stars 3-2 on Thursday in a game that wasnt decided until the last shot of the night.The Montreal Canadiens host a surging New York Islanders team that has been busy making statements lately tonight. Montreal (27-13-3) is in a 1-2-1 stretch after winning nine of 10 and is coming off Thursdays 4-1 loss at Ottawa. Max Pacioretty was again a bright spot, scoring a goal in a sixth straight game with seven total in that span. Hes bidding to become the first Canadien with goals in seven consecutive contests since Denis Savards nine-game run from Feb. 7-March 1, 1991. Pacioretty was held without a point in last months win over the Islanders, but has eight goals and three assists in his past 12 matchups. Montreal coach Michel Therrien will want to see a more complete effort from his team after seven forwards failed to even register a shot Thursday. We need contributions from more than one line, Therrien said. Right now, we only have contributions from one line and thats not good enough. After Pacioretty, Montreals most effective player lately has been goaltender Carey Price, who has a 1.67 goals-against average in his last 12 starts. However, Price did not face the Senators and could sit out again with an upper-body injury. Joey MacDonald was called up from Hamilton of the AHL on Friday, likely to back up Dustin Tokarski. Former Canadien Jaroslav Halak stopped 21 shots against the Penguins and tied Anaheims Frederik Andersen for second in the league with 24 wins. Chad Johnson, though, could get the start in the second half of this back-to-back. The Canadiens have won four of five against the Islanders and are 8-1-4 in the last 13 meetings at the Bell Centre. Just reaching the playoffs wouldve been a good way tto send out Nassau Coliseum in the Islanders last season there before moving to Brooklyn, but the team seems intent on doing much more.dddddddddddd With the midpoint of the season having just passed, the Islanders (30-13-1) find themselves in very unfamiliar territory. They lead the East by one point over Tampa Bay and their 30 wins are tied for the most in the NHL. Were in first place now, but that can change real quick, captain John Tavares said. All these wins are big wins, but youve got to go out there and continue that. After road victories over New Jersey and Columbus on back-to-back nights, the Islanders headed to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday to face a Rangers team that had won 13 of 14. All the Islanders did in that game was post a 3-0 shutout and register 44 shots against a club that hadnt allowed more than 38 all season. Their latest victory was just as impressive. Entering the third period down one against Pittsburgh on Friday, the Islanders scored four goals - three from Kyle Okposo after he tallied in the first - and rallied for a 6-3 victory. Tavares had three assists to help New York open a three-point lead over the Penguins atop the Metropolitan Division. To score four is pretty special, said Okposo. The atmosphere - it was awesome out there. I havent really heard it that loud since we played these guys in the (2013) playoffs. The Islanders outshot an opponent for the 15th consecutive contest and lowered their league-best total to 26.8 shots allowed per game. Theyll now try to improve to 6-1-0 on the second game of back-to-backs and avenge a 3-1 home loss to the Canadiens on Dec. 23. ' ' '