Colin Kaepernick will continue to sit during the national anthem

Colin Kaepernick created a firestorm when he chose to remain seated during the national anthem prior to the 49ers’ preseason matchup with the Green Bay Packers on Friday night. Kaepernick’s actions have been met with criticism, but regardless of the backlash, he plans to continue his protest.

“I’ll continue to sit,” Kaepernick told the media following Sunday’s practice. “I’m going to continue to stand with the people that are being oppressed. To me, this is something that has to change. When there’s significant change and I feel that flag represents what Graham Glasgow Jersey it’s supposed to represent, and this country is representing people the way that it’s supposed to, I’ll stand.”

The backlash and criticism of Kaepernick’s decision to remain seated during the national anthem will surely continue, but so will his protest.

The injury suffered by Tony Romo in the preseason was worse than the Dallas Cowboys initially believed, and head coach Jason Garrett announced on Saturday Haloti Ngata Jersey that an MRI revealed the veteran quarterback has a broken bone in his back.

Romo, 36, has struggled to stay healthy in recent years, suffering multiple clavicle fractures, so the back injury is a frustrating start to his 2016 season. However, Garrett said the injury isn’t expected to cost him the entire year.

Bridgewater is entering his third season in the league, and is coming off of a solid second season. He completed 292 of 447 passes for 3,231 yards and 14 touchdowns. The Vikings finished the season 11-5, winning the NFC North. The Vikings lost narrowly to the Seahawks in the wild card round of the playoffs with a final score of 10-9.

The team was looking to build upon last year’s successes and take a step forward in 2016, which will now be more difficult to do. Shaun Hill, 36, is currently listed as Bridgewater’s backup on the unofficial preseason depth chart, and Joel Stave is also on the roster.

Zimmer expressed confidence in Hill and the Vikings to carry on without Bridgewater.

“I have confidence in him,” Zimmer said. “I have confidence in this football team.”

Are the Patriots trying to fuck with the Texans, Jimmy Garoppolo, or both?

We still don’t know if Jimmy Garoppolo is going to play this week or not. He was listed as limited at practice on Tuesday, but with a Thursday game, this seems more like Belichick trying to psyche out the competition. Or maybe there’s another mind game they’re playing.

Are the Patriots Craig Mager Jersey putting pressure on Garoppolo to play this week? That’s what some folks close to the team are suggesting. One went so far as to say that the Patriots told Garoppolo that Tom Brady played through a similar injury. However, he can barely lift his right arm, so maybe rushing him back onto the field isn’t the best idea. Then again, this is the Patriots, so who the hell knows?

All we know right now is that Bill Belichick is not a doctor, and he’s fine with that. To be honest, he would make a horrible doctor.

The Rams own the Seahawks of late, winning four of the last five meetings between these division rivals.

The Rams have yet to D.J. Fluker Jersey score a touchdown in the 2016 season, but they were still able to get into field goal range enough against the Seahawks to get the job done and secure a win.

In Week 2, Cleveland was rolling offensively before McCown got hurt. They led the Ravens 20-2 after the first quarter, and McCown hit rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman with two touchdown passes.

After the injury, though, Cleveland was unable to score and lost 25-20. McCown was in pain and needed help removing his shirt in the locker room following the game, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Still, his plan was to be ready for next Sunday.

“We will see,” McCown said, according to Cabot. “My mindset is that everything will be alright and we’ll move ahead business as usual. It’s just a matter of letting the doctors and trainers do their job, and my expectations are to play some ball.”

Nuggets guard J.R. Smith remained hospitalized after being thrown from his vehicle

Briar Road, a ‘quiet, intriguing mystery’ about a family trying to find their missing daughter, captivates judges of £15 prize Buckley … praised for starkly impressive prose The writer Buckley has won the BBC national short story award with a haunting account of a family struggling to find a missing daughter, Briar Road. A part-time medium arrives at a becalmed house, a home full of the stillness that follows calamity, to search for clues to the girl’s disappearance by holding an awkward seance. Some people can hear notes that others Louis Williams Jersey can’t, Buckley’s narrator explains. Some tongues can distinguish gradations of flavour that elude the majority, some noses can detect a dozen elements a perfume that to other people is a single scent.

That’s what it’s like, as I tell them. According to Buckley, whose nine published novels include He Takes the Dog and 2015’s The River Is the River, the story grew out of notes for a novel which he never completed. It was going to have a medium as its central character, but the narrator that case would have been male and the setting would have been something quite different, he told the BBC’s Front Row. I could sense it was going to turn into something like a sub-standard Spark novel, I put that aside. But returning to his notes, Buckley continued, he Magic Johnson Jersey came across another idea – a story focused on the aftermath of a crime where the victim would not appear – and the foundations of Briar Road were place. Buckley’s story won the £15 prize ahead of a shortlist that included Mantel’s controversial The Assassination of Thatcher, as well as stories from Leviston and. Chair of judges, Alan Little, hailed its quiet, intriguing mystery, adding The prose is understated, stark and plain. The intrigue builds as key details are revealed slowly, hinted at and suggested rather than spelled out. It is a haunting evocation of the tensions between family members at a moment of bearable loss borne, the outward calm masking the turmoil into which the family has been swept. Little was joined on the panel by the novelist Tash Aw, the writer Sarah Hall – who won the BBC national short story award herself 2013 – the crime writer Rankin and BBC Radio’s books editor, Di Speirs. Haddon won the £3 runner-up prize with Bunny – a story of a morbidly obese, who is trapped his home and finds love with an old school friend. Buckley joins a roster of winners including Clanchy, Miroslav Penkov and last year’s winner Shriver.

We had guys out on the floor that can spread the floor, Cheeks said. We had out there, we had out there, we had different guys out there who could get the floor spread a little bit more, rather than have it packed in. The fact that we we were able to have those guys make some shots and spread the floor helped our offense.
, 10 NEWARK, N.J. – Nuggets guard J.R. Smith remained hospitalized after being thrown from his vehicle during a crash Saturday night, but his injuries aren’t believed to be as serious as first thought. J.R. is fine. There is nothing career- or life-threatening, Nuggets spokesman said. I did not hear anything that would suggest he is going to be out any. He is more concerned about the other people the accident. Smith and a passenger,, 21, of East Orange, were seriously injured Saturday when the sport utility vehicle Smith was driving went through a stop sign and overturned after colliding with a car at about 5 p.m. Millstone Township, state police said. Carroll, 23, another passenger the SUV, and Sinatra, 49, of Millstone, who was driving the car, sustained minor injuries. They were taken to CentraState Medical Center Freehold, where they were treated and later released. Both Smith and were ejected from the vehicle, said Lt. McPherson, commander of the state police’s Hamilton barracks. _ who sustained life-threatening head injuries _ was airlifted to Jersey Shore University Hospital Neptune, while Smith was taken there by ambulance. Further details on their status and their injuries were not disclosed. Smith, 21, was a player at Lakewood High School and St. Benedict’s Prep New Jersey before being the 18th overall pick of New Orleans the 2004 NBA draft. He averaged 13 points 63 for this past season.

The Detroit Red Brunner is getting his second wind. It helps to regain some confidence

Defending his enormous ambitions for Aston Villa, the English club he officially became the new owner of on Wednesday, a few short weeks after the team had been relegated from the Premier League disastrous fashion, 39-year-old Chinese businessman Xia said interview, At least now what I have… Are you David Blatt? The who coached the Cleveland Cavaliers all the way to the finals last, but still managed to lose your job after it became apparent that your star players basically saw you as Droopy Dog? Don’t watch this clip from the Cavaliers’ locker room after Game 2 of the Eastern Conference… Ten years ago today, the fifth-place Chicago Cubs played the first-place Chicago White Sox, lost 7, and gave us one of the most purely satisfying moments baseball history, when catcher responded to A.J. Pierzynski running right over him at home plate even though he didn’t even have the ball by… The College Softball World Series is coming up two weeks, and thanks to a new NCAA initiative, it’ll John Havlicek Jersey be a lot less fun than last year. Regional tournaments open this weekend, and the NCAA has decided that they will crack down and enforce arcane rule against props the dugout starting with this first round of… There has been a lot of talk lately about Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fighting Conor McGregor. The reasons why are obvious: It would be the vs. Jason of combat sports, the bad boy box office of one premier combat sport against the bad boy box office of the other. Unfortunately, the much-ballyhooed fight is….
MOST people thought Arsene Wenger was mad when he said his young Guns could win the title. We’re in a good run but have to keep going as this was just one game. It’s just the beginning. It’s an important game for our confidence, especially after being with our national teams. We lack a little bit physically after 10 days away. We have to play more as a team like we’re doing now. We’re playing more collectively, more as a team and this is important.” Spurs had plenty of chances but confidence is down and on another day Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane and Bent would have had a hatful.

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Brunner is getting his second wind. It helps to regain some confidence. That’s what Brunner did Monday, scoring what proved to be the deciding goal a 3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche at Arena. It snapped his 15-game goal-scoring drought. The Red ‘t have a surplus of offensive options, they desperately need Brunner to display the scoring touch he showed the first 19, when he notched a team-high 10 goals. I thought the last couple of, I started to get the feeling back,” Brunner said. I was skating better, I had my legs underneath me, I was gaining a lot of confidence and getting a lot of scoring chances. I knew when I was getting the scoring chances that they were going to go sometime.” Brunner blasted a one-timer at 9 of the second period on a nice Jonas Jerebko Jersey set-up by Gustav Nyquist. It gave his team a 3 lead, following goals by Abdelkader and Cleary. The Red ran out of a steam the third, as Colorado got a power-play goal by McGinn at 5 and a goal from Matt Duchene with 1 remaining after pulling goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere for the extra skater. But, Jimmy made a game-saving glove save on PA Parenteau with seven seconds remaining, and Detroit rebounded from Sunday’s disastrous 7 loss at home to Chicago. Brunner tied Pavel Datsyuk for the team lead with 11 goals by scoring for the first time since Feb. 24 vs. Vancouver, when the first-year right wing recorded his lone career two-goal game. The last five were better, but the 10 before, I really felt the heavy legs and was tired. I have to admit that,” Brunner said. You’ve got to prepare yourself mentally to play tough every night. You’ve got to fight through it to bounce back. I I can take a positive from today.” Brunner has played 68, including 33 Switzerland.

He hadn’t played more than 56 a season, and that was with much less travel and not as condensed a schedule as he is experiencing now. It’s the first time I’ve had that that days,” Brunner said. I definitely felt it a little bit, but the last trip out West, it was more like getting the energy back. Getting out the a little bit, getting that good feeling. All the boys were happy, we had a great road trip. I kind of felt much better.” The Red Brunner can get on another roll. It was good for him, real relief for a goal-scorer,” coach Babcock said. Like most goal-scorers, he’s probably streaky. When you get ‘er going you feel it. Next thing you know you’re shooting the puck more.” Johan Franzen, who had two assists, said: It’s tough when you ‘t score when you’re a goal- scorer. He found a great spot and made a great pass, and he doesn’t from there. He’s got a great shot.” Nyquist had to navigate a broken stick on the ice to set up Brunner. Starting goalie Semyon Varlamov was pulled after that goal. I just came up from laying down with a battle with a D-,” Nyquist said. I saw the puck come loose and went to get it. One of their guys made a move on me and then I saw Bruns was open back where he found a good spot. Just had to feed him the puck and he’ll make sure to put it the back of the net. The Red came dangerously close to squandering the lead the waning seconds, before robbed Parenteau. I was trying to take everything away,” said. He was at a bad, and if that goes, it’s completely on me. … As a goalie, you’re supposed to make that save 99 times out of 100.”.

Went a career-best 3 w 3RS, 2B and hit his first League HR on 18 at Tampa Bay

Hit 13HR his final 152 at bats with the Bisons…Homered 5 consecutive from 15 to tie the Buffalo club record…Also homered 3 straight, 10, and had 8HR a 10-game span from 10…Was Int’l League Batter of the week, 12 and was named Topps IL Player of the Month for…Was a 1 for 20 skid at the time of his recall… Had a.935 fielding % at 91 at 3B…Hit.275 with 5HR off LHP and.256 off RHP…Hit.238 with RISP and.303 with RISP 2 outs…Hit.278 with runners on base…Recalled from on July 28 and was the regular third baseman for the rest of the…Collected first hit RBI on 4 @DET…Started slowly, hitting.105 over the team’s first 14 thru 8… From 17 thru the end of the regular he hit.262 with 14B, 5HR & 21 RBI 36.

Went a Johnthan Banks Jersey career-best 3 w 3RS, 2B and hit his first League HR on 18 at Tampa Bay…Hit his first career grand slam on Sept. 5 at Toronto, giving him a career-high 4RBI after the 8th inning blast off Accardo…Overall appeared 50 at third base, making 49 starts while recording a capable fielding % of.962 of his last 19 hits went for extra bases…Hit.268 with runners on and.294 from the 7th inning on…Hit.246 the #9 spot the order and.364 on the first pitch. Named the Braves’ Minor League Hitter of the Year after batting.281 with 32 doubles, 21 home runs and 105 RBI 126 with Single-A Macon…Selected to the South Atlantic League mid- and postseason All- Teams…led the RBI…Rated by Baseball as the Best Defensive Third Baseman the following the …entered the ranked by Baseball as the No. 23 prospect the Braves’ organization entering the. Batted.285 with 35 doubles, 16 home runs and 63 RBI 130 with Single-A Beach…Selected to start at third base for the World the MLB All- Futures Game @ U.S. Cellular Field…also named to the Carolina League midseason All-…Rated by Baseball as the Best Defensive Third Baseman and Most Exciting Player the Carolina League following the…Entered the ranked by Baseball as the third-best prospect the Braves’ system. Was Jonathan Casillas Jersey acquired by Boston exchange for SS Edgar Renteria and cash considerations…Was named Boston’s top prospect entering the 2006 and was ranked #1 the Braves system 2005 by Baseball…

In fact, he was ranked BA’s 9th best prospect the entire minor leagues entering the 2005 and was ranked as the 5th best prospect the IL 2005…Has been voted his league’s best defensive third baseman by league managers each of his last 4 seasons…Spent the majority of the with Richmond, batting.275 with 26 doubles, 20 homers, 74 RBI and 51 runs scored 109…Posted a.506 slugging percentage and.372 on-base percentage…One of 12 Braves to make their league debut 2005, Marte had 3 stints Atlanta, going 8-for-57 with 4 RBI from 6, July 8 and 1 through the end of the…Filling for the injured Chipper Jones, the 21-year old Marte started at third base his league debut 7 vs. the Angels and collected his first RBI with a sacrifice fly the 4th inning…Recorded his first hit 11 vs. Oakland, a 5th-inning single off Kirk Saarloos to snap an 0-for-9 drought to begin his big league career…

With Richmond, hit.314 62 on the road, but batted just.223 47 at The Diamond…batted.294 with runners scoring position, including a.300 mark with runners scoring position and 2 outs… Batted.305 against lefthanders compared to a.265 average vs. righties…He finished 3rd the League walks despite spending three different stints with the Braves at the big league level at just 21-years of age. Named the second-best prospect the Braves organization by Baseball…Rated as the top prospect the -A Southern League by Baseball…Named the best defensive third baseman the Southern League by league managers…Ranked third the league with a.525 slugging percentage and fifth with 52 extra-base hits…Finished second homers among Braves farmhands, despite missing a month with sprains both ankles…Played the MLB All- Futures Game for the second consecutive year and went 0-for-2…Had two home runs and five RBI on 5 vs. JAX…Had another two- game on 7 vs. CAR…In 17 during July, he hit.350 with seven home runs and 15 RBI while walking 14 times and fanning just nine times…Went 2-for-3 with a home run his first appearance the League camp at Training.

National League, American League, Division Series

The following are trademarks or service marks of League Baseball entities and be used only with permission of League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant League Baseball entity: League, League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter Clinton McDonald Jersey logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All- Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.

The ‘s concussion policy is flawed. It is not necessarily that the , its teams, and its players are trying to hide concussions-though they certainly have the incentive to do -but that concussions cannot be adequately diagnosed by a ten-minute battery of tests the locker room. We got a stark reminder of that tonight.

Early the fourth quarter, Klay Thompson took a nasty knee from Ariza: Thompson went back to the locker room to have his bleeding ear sewn up, and Burke reported on the broadcast that he did not undergo concussion tests. He returned to the bench and was cleared to play, but did not end up re-entering the game as the Warriors lead never dipped Cortez Kennedy Jersey below nine: You can guess what happened next. While being interviewed on national TV post-game Thompson said that he felt dizzy, and the Warriors just released this statement: Definitionally, a concussion is about symptoms, and those symptoms can take a day to appear. Luckily Klay Thompson did not return to the game, but it wasn’t out of abundance of caution.

The statement says that Thompson was put through a concussion evaluation, but it is unclear what that means since Burke reported that he did not undergo concussion tests. But either way, as long as the concussion policy allows players who pass a couple of tests to re-enter the game, this is going to keep on happening. Update : The post has been updated to better express the uncertainty over exactly what tests Thompson did or did not undergo.

Dak Prescott: ‘This is Romo’s team’

Dak Prescott knows his role on the Dallas Cowboys, and he’s secure with it.

So he’s polite, but he doesn’t care what you think about his future when Tony Romo eventually returns. Or what fans on social media think. Or what talking heads in the media think.

When the broken bone in Romo’s back heals and he’s ready to play, whenever that is, Prescott will happily return the starting job to the 36-year-old veteran.

“This is Romo’s team. I’ve said that from the moment that I was named the starter and he went down,” Prescott said Monday after a Play 60 outing with fourth-graders at Pearcy Elementary.

“I’m just trying to do my best to win games and put this team in a successful position to do that, week in and week out. And when he comes back, I’ll leave that up to the big guys.”

Any talk about a quarterback controversy is folly. Jerry Jones is already wondering how much pain Romo can tolerate so he can get the quarterback back in the lineup ASAP.

Peterson, of course, played half the 2012 season with a sports hernia, running for 2,097 yards and winning league MVP honors in a year when he’d already made a stirring recovery from a torn ACL. It wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility he could play with the injury, depending on how severe it is and how much pain he’s willing to tolerate.

Peterson and the Vikings will sift through their options in the coming days, and as of Monday, Zimmer wasn’t willing to rule out the possibility of Peterson playing Sunday against Carolina. Whether he’s back within a week or two, or whether he’s gone for much of the regular season, will hinge on the decisions Peterson and the Vikings make in the coming days.

Jets Nation was aglow last Thursday night when the team scored four touchdowns, 37 points, and generated 493 total yards to defeat the Buffalo Bills, but that was a mere bottle rocket compared to the full fireworks display from 30 years ago. The ’86 gang also scored four touchdowns.

In the second quarter.

Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is smart, but he didn’t study sliding at Harvard

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — It’s not often a man with a Harvard degree tells the world he needs to be smarter on the job.

Then again, it’s not often a man with a Harvard degree has a job in which he’s chased by 300-pound guys with foul intentions.

Welcome to Ryan Fitzpatrick’s dilemma: To slide or not to slide?

If it persists, maybe Bowles should hire New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi to give a sliding tutorial. That’s what Rex Ryan did in 2009, when Mark Sanchez was struggling with his sliding technique.

A source, however, described Luck being limited in practice as nothing more than making sure he’s fresh and ready for the Week 1 game against the Detroit Lions.

The Colts have been overly cautious with their $140 million quarterback since the start of the preseason. Coach Chuck Pagano didn’t play him in their first preseason game against the Buffalo Bills and he took him out of the third preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles sooner than he originally planned because of poor offensive line play.

The Colts released the injury report after Pagano addressed the media.

Titans slot receiver Kendall Wright will not play in Sunday’s season opener against the Vikings.

Wright hurt his left hamstring a couple of days into camp and had a setback last week, when he attempted to return.

“Kendall, you think he’s got a chance and then there is a setback,” coach Mike Mularkey said. “I really have no time frame on Kendall. I think that’s going to be up to Kendall. I know he’s working in here extremely hard. He wants to play, I know he does, it’s got to be killing him, especially opening day. But for some reason, that thing is not coming around as it should.”

The Titans have rookie Tajae Sharpe and Rishard Matthews as starters, with Harry Douglas working in the slot with Wright absent.

Mularkey said the Titans would also work newcomer Marc Mariani in the slot and have Andre Johnson and Matthews prepared to kick inside if needed.

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott has been in similar situation before

FRISCO, Texas — The Dak Prescott story seems to start the same way wherever he plays.

“I think,” Prescott said. “I’ve started at every level this exact, same way, unfortunately for those guys: High school, college and now the NFL I’ve become a starter because of injury, unfortunately.”

In addition to the texts with Romo, Prescott heard from other teammates expressing faith in him. Friends from high school and college called as well. He tried to put the phone to the side, but it was hard.

His conversation with offensive coordinator Scott Linehan was short.

“Just that they had confidence in me; I was the next man up,” Prescott said. “Things happened a lot faster than I think we all expected it, but like I said, they have confidence. Just keeping the person that I am.”

That’s worked well in the preseason. Prescott has completed 39 of 50 passes for 454 yards. He has five touchdown passes and no interceptions. He has two rushing touchdowns as well.

But there is a massive difference between the preseason and regular season. The speed of the game is different. The scope of the game plan is different. New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has creative pressure packages, something Prescott has not seen yet.

Prescott said he prepares like he is the starter. Now he is the starter.

With a compression fracture, the recovery time and determination of return to play is dependent on the nuances of the injury. If the fracture is small and the spinal segment is stable, the recovery can be much quicker than if there is significant bone deformity and associated instability. Stable compression fractures are typically managed non-surgically, as will be the case with Romo.

“He plans on standing for the National Anthem,” Tavarres’ agent, Corey Williams, said in a statement Monday. “Myke does not want to be a distraction to the Philadelphia Eagles organization. Myke’s goal is and will always be to make the Eagles 53-man roster and help the team win a Super Bowl.”

Asked if he advised Tavarres to change his stance, Williams replied: “Yes, I did.”

Speaking to ESPN on Monday, Tavarres said he almost sat during the anthem ceremony preceding Saturday night’s game against the Colts in Indianapolis, and he had planned to follow through when the Eagles host the New York Jets in their preseason finale Thursday night.

“Oh, I thought about it. Believe me, I definitely thought about it,” Tavarres said of sitting Saturday night. “And usually I’m front and center on the line with the rest of the guys, and that’s since pre-K all the way up. Saturday’s game, I stepped back, I was in the background, and it didn’t feel right to me at all, and so I will be taking a stand — or sitting down — for the fourth game.”

San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick has created a national conversation for opting not to stand for “The Star Spangled Banner” this preseason because of his views on the country’s treatment of racial minorities.

Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz had an open forum on the topic during a group meeting Monday, according to multiple players. Several people spoke, including Malcolm Jenkins, Leodis McKelvin and Tavarres, one source in attendance said.

“We’ve got an issue in this country in this day and age, and I feel like somebody needs to step up and we all need to step up,” Tavarres said. “We’ve got that right. There’s just a lot going on that people don’t want to talk about, and I feel like us as athletes, we’re looked at as role models. And I feel like with Colin Kaepernick, he’s doing a great job for standing up in what he believes in, and most people may not like that, but that’s his opinion, he’s entitled to it, and I respect him for doing it.”

The BS Meter: NFL players in ‘the best shape of my life’

Of all the annoying and meaningless rituals associated with the NFL preseason, this one’s my favorite: the annual parade of players proclaiming with 100 percent certainty, and for all the world to hear, that they are, without a doubt, in the Best Shape of their Lives.

After all this BS talk, we decided to investigate all the other “Best Shape of my Life” claims that were made this summer.

Tim Tebow

BS Line: “I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in,” Tebow declared at the end of July in yet another attempt to return to the NFL.

BS Level: 10. Tebow — the guy who is willing to do anything on earth to make his QB dreams come true (except, ya know, go play in the CFL) — was so confident in his life-altering conditioning that shortly after this statement he quit football altogether to pursue a baseball career.

Knile Davis

BS Line: “He came back in the best shape of his life,” said Chiefs special-teams coach Dave Toub at the start of camp.

BS Level: 3. Seems legit, at least to Toub, who added: “The conditioning test, I think he was first out of all of those guys. He’s lean, he’s ready to go, he’s focused and he’s ready to compete.”

Le’Veon Bell

BS Line: “I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in,” Bell declared on his Facebook page this summer.

BS Level: 0. Uh, have you seen the workout videos the Steelers running back posted? A few examples: here, here and here. Have you seen him run during camp? But last year, the 244-pound Bell posted a medical report that listed his body fat as 2.9 percent. Now, who actually believes he’s in better shape this season? Well, me for one.

Rob Gronkowski

BS Line: “This is actually the best shape I’ve been in for the beginning of camp for the first five days,” Gronk told Sirius Radio during camp.

BS Level: 8. The proof Gronk used to back up his claim? He really got intense and super-focused with his training for the entire two weeks before camp opened.

What was it like to play Arena League football, and that game in particular? ESPN.com has the video and spoke with the quarterbacks — Jay Gruden of the Tampa Bay Storm and Kurt Warner of the Iowa Barnstormers — for details. (They’re now known as Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden and surefire Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, but you’ve probably made the connection already.)

On this particular day, Gruden’s Storm held off Warner’s Barnstormers with a late goal-line stand to win 42-38.

With the news, Blount is now my No. 33 running back, tops among Patriots backs but still 12 spots behind where I initially had Lewis (21st). White, meanwhile, has moved up to 48th, though he’d earn a ranking closer to Blount’s in PPR formats.

During Tuesday’s joint practice with the Cleveland Browns, Aguayo went 3 for 6 on field goal attempts, and Bucs fans booed him loudly.

“He’s struggling,” coach Dirk Koetter said after practice. “He’s struggling a little bit right now. He’s gotta work his way through it.”

The first miss came on his first attempt of practice at 35 yards out. After making the next two attempts, he backed up to 45 yards, and shanked it. He attempted a 45-yarder again and missed, with the ball sailing wide left.

Through two preseason games, he’s missed two field goals and an extra point. During his entire time at FSU, he was 198-for-198 on extra points and only missed nine field goals in three years.