
| Brady practices again, Patriots downplay injury | |
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Brady is practicing with the New England Patriots after being limited in Thursday’s session by an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. Two days after sitting out practice, Brady stretched with his teammates during the brief period open to reporters Friday. Asked what Brady was able to do Thursday, coach Bill Belichick said Friday: “Play quarterback, the usual thing.” When asked if Wednesday was a planned day off for Brady, Belichick said he thought that had been covered. The Patriots have said Wednesday’s absence was not injury-related. When asked whether Brady would be able to play Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, Belichick said that, too, has been covered. Comcast SportsNet has reported that Brady had X-rays to check for a separated left shoulder and was told he was “all set.” Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Thanks for visiting our blog =). Posted in patriots-news | No Comments »
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| Brady practices again, appears ready to go for… | |
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady practiced Friday with the New England Patriots after being limited in Thursday’s session by an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. Two days after sitting out practice, Brady stretched with his teammates during the brief period open to reporters. Asked what Brady was able to do Thursday, coach Bill Belichick said Friday: “Play quarterback, the usual thing.” When asked if Wednesday was a planned day off for Brady, Belichick said he thought that had been covered. The Patriots have said Wednesday’s absence was not injury-related. When asked whether Brady would be able to play Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, Belichick said that, too, has been covered. Comcast SportsNet has reported that Brady had X-rays to check for a separated left shoulder and was told he was “all set.” That’s all the news for today. Posted in patriots-news | No Comments »
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| NFL notes • New England Patriots’ Tom Brady… | |
Tom Brady participated in practice Thursday on a limited basis because of a left shoulder injury. The New England Patriots quarterback had missed Wednesday’s session, but the team said his absence was not injury-related. Comcast SportsNet reported that same day that Brady had X-rays to check for a separated left shoulder and was told he was “all set.” Patriots spokesman Stacey James said Thursday: “If there was an injury then it would be on the injury report.” Brady was listed on Thursday’s report as having participated on a limited basis with the shoulder injury. He was one of 17 Patriots listed as participating on a limited basis, meaning a player took part in fewer than 100 percent of his normal repetitions. He loosened up and ran with his teammates at the start of the practice while reporters were allowed to watch. Brady landed hard on his left shoulder with 1:40 left in the fourth quarter Saturday when he was tackled by Kevin Burnett on a scramble in a 27-24 win over the Miami Dolphins in which he also scored on two 1-yard sneaks.
Roethlisberger says he will play Sunday Story continues below Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t want his sprained left ankle to keep him out of Pittsburgh’s regular-season finale Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. “As long as I can deal with pain, I’ll be out there,” Roethlisberger said Thursday. “I don’t want to let the guys down, so I’ll do what I can to be out there.” Roethlisberger, who sat out the Steelers’ win last Sunday against the St. Louis Rams, fully participated in practice again Thursday. He said the ankle, sprained on Dec. 8 in Pittsburgh’s last meeting with the Browns, was “a little sore.” There’s plenty at stake against the Browns as the Steelers (11-4) remain in the hunt for the AFC North title.
Around the league Cowboys • With tape still wrapped around his bruised throwing hand after practice, quarterback Tony Romo insists that he will be ready to play in what is essentially a playoff game against the New York Giants. Vikings • Running back Adrian Peterson is scheduled for surgery Friday to repair torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee. Noted specialist James Andrews will perform the operation. Subscribe to our feed!. Posted in patriots-news | No Comments »
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| New England 27, Miami 24: Patriots rally, clinch… | |
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady and the New England Patriots looked lost in a terrible first half. Then they rallied to finish as winners, clinching a playoff bye with a 27-24 win over the Miami Dolphins on Saturday. The Patriots trailed, 17-0, at halftime then scored on their first five possessions in the second half. The Dolphins helped when Matt Moore lost a fumble at his 38-yard line, then threw an interception that Devin McCourty picked off at the Patriots’ 2. New England (12-3) won its seventh straight game. After Houston lost to Indianapolis on Thursday night, the Patriots needed a win or a tie to lock up one of the top two spots in the AFC. Miami (5-10) lost for the third time in eight games after opening at 0-7 and is 1-1 under Todd Bowles, who took over when Tony Sparano was fired. But the Dolphins seemed headed for a victory and got a break even before the game started when Patriots left tackle Matt Light hurt his ankle in warm-ups and didn’t play. Left guard Logan Mankins took his spot, but he left with a knee injury suffered on New England’s second series. Their absence showed as the Dolphins kept pressuring Brady. He completed 7 of 19 passes for 87 yards and was sacked three times in the half. But once the third quarter began, Brady and the Patriots looked completely different starting with the very first play, a 22-yard completion to Rob Gronkowski. Brady completed 20 of 27 passes for 217 yards in the second half, finishing at 27-for-46 for 304 and leading one scoring drive after another — a 45-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, a 1-yard pass to Deion Branch, a 1-yard sneak by Brady that tied the game, a go-ahead 42-yard field goal by Gostkowski after McCourty’s first interception of the year and another 1-yard sneak by Brady with 2:56 to go. What are your opinions. Posted in patriots-news | No Comments »
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| Patriots beat Dolphins, clinch playoff berth | |
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots emphasize playing well for 60 minutes every game. On Saturday, 30 was enough — barely.
Rallying from their worst half of the season, the Patriots scored on their next five possessions and clinched a playoff bye with a 27-24 win over the Miami Dolphins on Saturday. “You don’t want to, certainly, make a habit of this,” said Tom Brady, who scored on two 1-yard sneaks and threw for a 1-yard touchdown. “We showed some resiliency.” New England (12-3) won its seventh straight game. After the Houston Texans lost to the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night, the Patriots needed a win or a tie to lock up one of the top two spots in the AFC. “It’s good to clinch,” said Deion Branch, who caught the touchdown pass from Brady, “but not by the way we played. It’s not the way you want to do it.” Miami (5-10) lost for the third time in eight games after opening at 0-7 and is 1-1 under Todd Bowles, who took over when Tony Sparano was fired. “First half we came out and played our tempo and our ballgame,” Bowles said. “The second half they made us play theirs.” The AFC East champions trailed 17-0 at halftime but made the necessary adjustments and went to their no-huddle offense more, keeping the Dolphins from making defensive substitutions. And Brady was on target after a first half in which heavy defensive pressure against a makeshift offensive line affected his accuracy. He completed just 7 of 19 passes for 87 yards and was sacked three times in the half. But in the second half, he completed 20 of 27 passes for 217 yards, finishing at 27 for 46 for 304 yards and leading one scoring drive after another — a 45-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, the scoring pass to Branch, his own sneak that tied the game, Gostkowski’s 42-yard go-ahead kick after Devin McCourty’s first interception of the year, and the other sneak with 2:56 to go, making it 27-17. The Dolphins made it closer on Matt Moore’s 15-yard scoring pass to Davone Bess with 1:48 to play. They had three timeouts left, but their hopes faded when Brady hit Wes Welker for a 6-yard gain and a first down. “We had (Brady’s) number in the first half, but in the second half he came out and made a lot of plays,” Miami linebacker Karlos Dansby said. “He is a coach on the field.” The Dolphins seemed headed for a victory and got a break even before the game started when Patriots left tackle Matt Light hurt his ankle in warmups and didn’t play. Left guard Logan Mankins took his spot, but he left with a knee injury suffered on New England’s second series. “There’s always things that are going to go wrong in a football game and things aren’t going to work out the way you want them to all the time,” said Welker, who finished with 12 catches for 138 yards after managing just two for 20 in the first half. “The main thing is just playing a full 60 minutes and never giving in and understanding that one drive and one score (can) get things going.” The Patriots punted on their first six series of the first half then missed a field goal on the other. The Dolphins struggled in the second half when Moore fumbled the snap at his 38-yard line and Vince Wilfork recovered, starting the drive capped by Branch’s touchdown. “They committed penalties in the first half,” Dolphins guard Richie Incognito said. “We turned the ball over and committed penalties in the second half. That is never a good recipe.” Reggie Bush had another outstanding game for Miami with his fourth straight rushing day of at least 100 yards. He finished with 113 on 22 carries one week after gaining a career-high 203 yards. His latest performance gave him 1,086 yards rushing for the season, the first time in his six years, the first five with the New Orleans Saints, that he passed 1,000. “It really doesn’t mean anything right now,” he said. “This one’s pretty tough.” The Dolphins had taken a 3-0 lead on Dan Carpenter’s 47-yard field goal 4:01 into the game and made it 10-0 with 1:15 gone in the second quarter on Moore’s 19-yard pass to Brandon Marshall. They stretched that to 17-0, the Patriots biggest deficit of the season, on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Moore to Charles Clay. The 89-yard drive was helped by two defensive pass interference penalties on third down. But the Patriots remained calm in the locker room at intermission. “There wasn’t a bunch of yelling,” Wilfork said. “We just came in and said we’ve got to play better, we’ve got to make more plays.” They did. The Dolphins didn’t. “Our guys fought,” Bowles said, “but we didn’t finish.” Notes: Welker set a franchise record for one season with 1,518 yards receiving. He broke the mark of 1,493 set by Randy Moss in 2007. … Bush was checked my medical personnel on the sideline late in the game “Something in my leg just didn’t feel right,” he said. “I’m walking. If it was serious, I wouldn’t be walking.” … Moore completed 17 of 33 passes for 294 yards, his highest total as a Dolphin. He threw for more than that with the Carolina Panthers once in 2009 and once in 2010. … The victory was the largest comeback by the Patriots from a second-half deficit since Nov. 10, 2002 when they beat the Chicago Bears 33-30 after trailing 27-6 in the third quarter. That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow. Posted in patriots-news | No Comments »
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