by Zack Cox on Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 10:24AM 2,147 Share this: FOXBORO, Mass. — Ask a random person who the best player on the Los Angeles Rams is, and there’s a strong chance he or she would choose Aaron Donald, the All-Pro defensive tackle who quickly has blossomed into one of the NFL’s most ferocious defenders. Bill Belichick, however, spent much of his Wednesday news conference heaping praise on another, far less heralded Rams star: punter Johnny Hekker. “Hekker is a tremendous weapon,” the New England Patriots coach said, unprompted. “He’s as good a player as I’ve ever seen at that position. He’s a tremendous weapon in his ability to punt it inside the 20, directional kick it. He’s involved in fakes. He
Tag: good
Patriots QB Tom Brady Gives Positive Injury Update Following Win Over Jets
Share this: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady wasn’t at his best Sunday against the New York Jets, but he was good enough to propel his team to a comeback win on the road against a hated rival. Despite being bothered by an ailment that landed him on the injury report as questionable entering Week 12, Brady completed 30 of 50 pass attempts for 286 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions versus the Jets. His late fourth-quarter touchdown pass to rookie wideout Malcolm Mitchell sealed a 22-17 win. So, how is Brady feeling a day later? He provided an update during his weekly appearance on Westwood One radio with host Jim Gray. “I expect it to heal,” Brady said Monday night. “I’m a pretty
Tom Brady’s Display Of Toughness Sends Message To Patriots Teammates
Share this: EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Jets fans present for the New England Patriots’ 22-17 win over New York probably wish they were among the many who stayed home and left their grey seats empty at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. The Patriots’ win goes down as another notch in Tom Brady’s belt while the Jets remain futureless at quarterback. Sure, young signal-callers Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg are on the roster, but if they’re not even good enough to play quarterback over Ryan Fitzpatrick in another lost Jets season, then how are they supposed to give fans hope for tomorrow? Brady, ageless at 39 years old, had himself a day that will be remembered for his 200th win, 60,000th yard and the toughness to throw for
Bruins Goaltie Tuukka Rask Back To Elite Form During Historic Start To Season
Share this: Tuukka Rask is one of the five-best goaltenders in the NHL. The Boston Bruins star didn’t play up to his normal standard in each of the last two seasons following a Vezina Trophy-winning campaign in 2013-14. Most of this decline can be contributed to the Bruins’ defense steadily regressing, both in number of shots and quality of shots allowed. Losing top-four defensemen such as Johnny Boychuk and Dougie Hamilton didn’t help, either. The 2016-17 season has started out in almost perfect fashion for Rask, and it’s clear he’s back to the elite form that made him a $7 million netminder. Wins aren’t a great stat to judge goalies on, but a 10-1-0 record is pretty darn good. Rask’s shutout win over the Colorado Avalanche
Improvements In Bruins’ Overall Game Evident In Win Over Blue Jackets
Share this: Just about everything went well for the Boston Bruins on Thursday. The B’s earned a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, and four of those goals were scored by either a defenseman or bottom-six forwards. Secondary scoring production can’t get much better than that. And the one goal that did come from the top two lines was David Backes’ first score since the season opener. But that wasn’t the only good thing Bruins coach Claude Julien saw from his squad. “I think our overall game is coming around,” Julien told NESN’s Andy Brickley and Jack Edwards on “Bruins Overtime Live.” “We’ve been good lately with special teams, and even if we didn’t score (Thursday night) on our power play, we still had some
Patriots Notes: Martellus Bennett Has Unique Relationship With Seahawks’ Defense
by Zack Cox on Thu, Nov 10, 2016 at 6:51PM 1,344 Share this: FOXBORO, Mass. — An assortment of notes from a tight end-heavy Thursday at the New England Patriots’ facility: — Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski offered high praise for his Seattle Seahawks’ counterpart, Jimmy Graham. Graham is enjoying a resurgence this season after recovering from the torn patellar tendon that ended his lackluster 2015 campaign. He has 38 catches for 545 yards and three touchdowns in eight games after catching just two touchdown passes all of last season. “I have a super-high level of respect for Jimmy Graham, especially with what happened to him last year and the way he came back and bounced back,” said Gronkowski, who’s dealt with several serious injuries since
Hodgson backs Switzerland to ‘continue to prosper’
Roy Hodgson, who was in charge of Switzerland in the early to mid-1990s, talks to UEFA.com about his former side's perfect start to 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Hodgson twice beat the Swiss with England en route to UEFA EURO 2016 but saw more than enough positive signs not to be surprised by their three wins from three – including against European champions Portugal – in Group B."We played in Basel (2-0) and at Wembley (2-0) and I thought on both occasions that they were very good and would be our fiercest rivals in the group. They've continued in that vein. [Coach Vladimir] Petković is doing an