News & Neuigkeiten » Scognamiglio also struck for Plymouth (3-3-1).Josh

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Fumbles plagued Stevan Ridley even when the ball was dry. A steady rain presents another challenge to the New England Patriots running back. It wasnt a problem for him Thursday. The Patriots continued their organized team activities on a soggy day and Ridley gripped the ball as if his job depended on it. It might if he keeps fumbling. "I told one of the young guys today, thats the quickest way to get off the field," Ridley said. "You can ask me first." Hes speaks from experience. Ridley lost fumbles in three consecutive games last season. After the third, in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos on Nov. 24, he was benched for the rest of New Englands 34-31 comeback win in overtime. He lost a total of four fumbles last season leading to three touchdowns and a field goal. So hes been focusing on avoiding a repeat this year. "All you can do is really squeeze (the ball) high and tight," Ridley said. "I think that was a lesson I had to go through and, hopefully, I wont have to go through it again, but who knows? "A little bit of adversity never hurts anybody. ... You take your mistakes, you learn from them and you grow and you just keep on pushing." The third-round pick from LSU fumbled just once as a rookie in 2011, but the Patriots recovered it. He lost two of his four fumbles in 2012 before the problem escalated last year. And his rushing production dropped -- from 1,263 yards and 12 touchdowns on 290 carries in 2012 to 773 yards and seven touchdowns on 178 attempts. So hes concentrating on improving his overall focus on every play. "I think if I can do that I can become a better player," Ridley said. "When you lose focus on the small things -- whether its small assignments, whether its carrying the football, whether its running a route, whether its blitz pickup -- those are things that cost you your playing time." LeGarrette Blount emerged as the top back late in the season, rushing for 431 yards and eight touchdowns in three straight games before both runners were shut down in a 26-16 loss at Denver in the AFC championship game. Blount left for the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent, leaving Ridley, Shane Vereen and Brandon Bolden as coach Bill Belichicks veteran backs. "You can go out there and be a starter one game and the next game youre two or three guys behind," Ridley said. "Thats what Coach stresses to us every week. We have to go out there and be as competitive as we can be. Hes going to play the matchups game and we just have to be unselfish enough to capitalize on the plays that we get." Ridleys four fumbles last year came on dry days. It rained during the last regular-season game, a 34-20 win over the Buffalo Bills, and the first playoff games, a 43-22 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Both games were at Foxborough. On Thursday, three months before the regular season, rain fell throughout practice. "Theres no contact so you should be running your routes perfect. You should be catching every ball thats thrown to you. You shouldnt be dropping anything on the ground," Ridley said. "Rain, sleet, whatevers out there, whatever the conditions are, you have to find a way to fight through that." Some had trouble. One receiver fell while trying to cut. "When you have a wet surface, you have to stick to your fundamentals," wide receiver Julian Edelman said. Wet or dry, Ridley knows he must do that all the time. "Were practicing either way. Coach says he doesnt care about the conditions -- rain, sleet, snow -- were playing in them," he said. "You just never know, but whatever it is there are no excuses." Ridley is entering the final season of his contract and tries not to think much about it. "I have to go out there and play football and hit it hard and run the ball and get wide open," he said. "I just have to be the same player Ive been." Anything else? "Try to go out there and be mistake-free." Spud Webb Jersey .Hoffenheim forward Anthony Modeste opened the scoring on a counterattack in the 15th minute, shooting though Jaroslav Drobnys legs after Lewis Holtby lost the ball in midfield. Kevin Huerter Hawks Jersey . After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91. https://www.thehawkslockerroom.com/Jeremy-Lin-City-Edition-Jersey/ . That time around, the cage is as much a part of baseballs daily routine as a beer and a hotdog is to a fan in the stands. Coaches, scouts, broadcasters and other media hover, tossing verbal barbs, telling stories and sharing laughs. Occasionally, especially in spring when the atmosphere is relatively laid back, the list of invited guests expands and on this day, Gibbons welcomed two men strongly influential in his life. Jeremy Lin Hawks Jersey . Appearing on TSN 1050 on Tuesday, Sean McAdam of Comcast SportsNet New England reported that the Blue Jays, along with a number of other playoff contenders were in the mix for the Boston ace. Cam Reddish Hawks Jersey . -- Packers cornerback Tramon Williams has been fined $26,250 for contact with an official, per NFL guidelines.SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. - The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds scored five consecutive goals to open the game en route to defeating the Owen Sound Attack 7-4 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action.Zachary Senyshyn had two goals for Sault Ste. Marie (6-0-0), who extened their lead atop the West Division standings, while Tyler Ganly, Blake Speers, Jared McCann, Michael Bunting and Sergey Tolchinsky also found the back of the net.Kyle Platzer replied with two goals while Thomas Schemitsch and Chris Bigras rounded out the scoring for Owen Sound (4-2-2).Brandon Halverson turned aside 34 shots in the win. Jack Flinn allowed five goals on 29 shots and was replaced by Brandon Hope, who stopped 11-of-12 shots in defeat.Sault Ste. Marie went 0 for 4 with the man advantage while the Attack scored once on five power-play opportunities.---OTTERS 5 RANGERS 4 (SO)ERIE, Pa. — Connor McDavid and Mason Marchment both scored in the shootout as the Otters edged Kitchener.Dylan Strome found the back of the net twice in regulation while Alex DeBrincat and Trent Fox also scored for Erie (6-0-0).Justin Bailey had a hat trick for the Rangers (2-3-1) with Darby Llewellyn adding the other.---BULLS 8 ICEDOGS 5BELLEVILLE, Ont. — Jake Marchment had two of the Bulls five first-period goals en route to their win over Niagara.Brett Gustavsen, Remi Elie, Niki Petti, Alex Yuill, Matt Luff and David Tomasek supplied the rest of Bellevilles (6-1-0) offence.Billy Jenkins, Jordan Maletta, Anthony DiFruscia, Carter Verhaeghe, and Aleksandar Mikulovich all responded for the IceDogs (0-5-0).dddddddddddd---WHALERS 8 PETES 4PLYMOUTH, Mich. — Connor Chatham had a hat trick as the Whalers doubled up Peterborough.Francesco Vilardi, Cullen Mercer, Matt Mistele, Gianluca Curcuruto and Vincent Scognamiglio also struck for Plymouth (3-3-1).Josh MacDonald, Steven Lorentz, Greg Betzold and Matt Spencer scored for the Petes (1-2-2).---STING 9 SPITFIRES 2SARNIA, Ont. — Nikita Korostelev had three goals and two assists to lead the Sting in their rout of Windsor.Davis Brown scored twice for Sarnia (3-3-1) with Pavel Zacha, Alexandre Renaud, Kevin Spinozzi and Jordan Kyrou also chipping in.Chris Marchese and Mark Manchurek replied for the Spitfires (2-4-0)---KNIGHTS 3 SPIRIT 2 (OT) SAGINAW, Mich. — Brett Welychka scored his third goal of the season on the power play at 1:06 of overtime in Londons win over the Spirit.Dakota Mermis and Mitchell Marner both struck in the third period to round out the offence for the Knights (2-4-0).Dylan Sadowy had two goals for Saginaw (2-3-1) in the loss.---COLTS 6 WOLVES 4BARRIE, Ont. — Justin Scott and Andrew Mangiapane each had two goals for the Colts as they beat Sudbury.Brendan Lemieux and Roy Radke supplied the rest of the scoring for Barrie (5-1-1).Matt Schmalz found the back of the net twice for the Wolves (1-7-0) while Ivan Kashtanov and Kyle Capobianco added a goal apiece.--- ' ' '