Angebot, Shop » Not saying anything negative about the opposition.

FOXBOROUGH Kendall Sheffield Jersey , Mass. — The New England Patriots are spending the week leading up to Sunday’s AFC title game doing what they always do in the days leading up to any game.


That’s the Patriots way — don’t give the other guys anything to put up on their bulletin boards.

So, when someone like Jacksonville’s Jalen Ramsey predicts his Jaguars will unseat the defending Super Bowl champs in Sunday’s game, the Patriots take the high road and talk about how tough the other guys are to deal with.

Reacting to Ramsey’s boast, quarterback Tom Brady, on his weekly WEEI appearance, said, “I think what I have learned for a long time is — it’s how you play, it’s not what you say. Everyone has different ways of handling things — players do, coaches do. We do what works for us, other players do what works for them. The game is going to be decided by who plays the best, not who hypes the best or speaks the best.

“He’s a really good player. I have watched a ton of film on him,” Brady said of Ramsey. “He has a lot of strengths. He’s obviously very confident. That is reflected in how he plays. I am more concerned about how he plays (as) opposed to what he says.”

Brady, headed for his seventh straight AFC title game and 12th overall, also called the upstart Jaguars “the toughest” team the top-seeded Patriots have faced all season — something that didn’t sit too well with Jacksonville.

Jacksonville’s Telvin Smith called Brady out on Twitter, saying, “Bruh this the oldest trick…pump us up in the media but in the buildin I kno what’s really bein said. Respect.”

Brady http://www.atlantafalconsteamonline.com/john-cominsky-jersey , who has had his shares of bumps and bruises in this, his 40-year-old season, skipped his Wednesday media session as he met with team medical personnel over a right hand injury. He then was held out of practice on Thursday because of the injury, calling into question how effective he would be if he plays Sunday.

He is still expected to play Sunday.

He captured his 26th postseason victory, recorded his 13th 300-yard postseason passing game — extending his NFL record for both — and also broke a tie with Joe Montana to become the all-time leader with 10 three-TD playoff games.

The Patriots, seeking the sixth Super Bowl crown of the Brady/Bill Belichick Era, hammered the Tennessee Titans 35-14 in the divisional round, while the third-seeded Jaguars stunned the Steelers 45-42 in Pittsburgh and come into this game filled with confidence — and toughness.

Asked Wednesday what it will be like facing the NFL’s No. 1 defense, New England tight end Rob Gronkowski, active this time around after missing last year’s title run, said, “That is a big challenge. They have very talented players on both sides of the ball. Especially on defense, they have many, many great players. It is going to be a big challenge.

“It is the best team we are facing all year coming up in the AFC Championship Game this weekend. We have to be ready. We have to be prepared. It is going to be a big, tough challenge, for sure.”

The Jags are trying to become only the third team — and first since the 1985 Chicago Bears — to lead the league in rushing and win the championship.

“It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be a great challenge for us Qadree Ollison Jersey ,” Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone told the New England media via conference call Wednesday. “We understand how great of a team New England is and how much of a challenge all three phases are going to be faced with. It’s going to be difficult and we understand that.”

These teams practiced together prior to the first preseason game back in August, and Patriots players said they saw back then things would be different with a team that won three games last season.

Now, they meet for the AFC title.

The Patriots have gone 3-3 in the six straight title game appearances, losing twice to the Denver Broncos and once to the Baltimore Ravens. Most people expected a battle with the Pittsburgh Steelers this week but the Jags flipped the script and come into this game as decided underdogs.

A big change beside the coach was the return of Tom Coughlin to the organization he helped build — as the first coach of the expansion team in 1995.

Jacksonville’s vice president of football operations, Coughlin coached the New York Giants to a pair of Super Bowl wins over the Patriots, and one would have to think he can be of some help this week — as he has the entire season.

Asked if Coughlin might be getting too much credit when he, Marrone, is the coach, Marrone said, “He should get a lot of credit. (Jaguars general manager) Dave Caldwell should get a lot of credit. Our coaches should get a hell of a lot of credit and our players deserve the most credit.

“So I think everyone is trying to pull in the same direction. I just think that those people getting the credit, they deserve it. As long as we win I don’t really care who gets the credit. So I have no problem with that at all.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee expects more sacks from coordinator Dean Pees’ defense.The goal is part of the defense’s anticipated overall improvement, but it’s not the Titans‘ primary focus.“We get so caught up sometimes in like, well, if a guy didn’t have a lot of sacks that he must not be playing particularly well,” Pees said. “Well Brian Burns Jersey , the team that led the league last year in sacks was also 31st on defense. Between me, I’d rather be eight on defense and midway in the sacks, just me personally. … Guys who have a lot of sacks doesn’t mean they’re playing great defense. It means they got a lot of sacks.”Tennessee had 39 sacks in 2018, tying for 16th in the NFL. The Titans would like to be better in that category.Nonetheless, Pees is more worried about the Titans doing what’s asked of them within the defensive scheme, even if that means sacrificing sack numbers. Tennessee made a few personnel changes on a defense that ranked third in fewest points allowed, eighth in fewest yards allowed and sixth against the pass in 2018.Brian Orakpo had 1½ sacks in his final season, and the Titans didn’t bring back veteran linebacker Derrick Morgan, who managed only a half-sack. Tennessee’s big offseason move came with the free agent signing of Cameron Wake who has 98 career sacks but turned 37 in January.Four-time Pro Bowl lineman Jurrell Casey led Tennessee with seven sacks, and veteran linebacker Wesley Woodyard had 4½.The Titans are also counting on some young players for an improved pass rush.Jayon Brown, going into his third season, had a career-best six sacks last season, and Harold Landry III, expected to start opposite Wake, had 4½ sacks. Linebacker Rashaan Evans, the first-round pick out of Alabama last year http://www.carolinapanthersteamonline.com/greg-little-jersey , missed last preseason with an injury and still is looking for his first sack and might get more chances to rush quarterbacks this season.Landry, a second-round pick out of Boston College last year, is up to 255 pounds after playing around 240 pounds at times as a rookie last season. He’s worked to add strength and explosiveness with the Titans hiring his old BC strength coach Frank Piraino.“I’m much more relaxed out there going into my second year,” Landry said Tuesday. “I feel like last year was a big learning experience for me. I took it to the offseason. Now I take it to OTAs. I think the game speed has definitely slowed down for me. I’m much more relaxed and much more reactionary flying off the ball. Whatever happens, I just read and react.”As for Wake, Pees said the veteran is busy learning a new defense and what the Titans want from him as a linebacker and defensive end.“They all have to improve,” Pees said. “We want to obviously increase our numbers there, but as long as we’re getting pressure on the quarterback and we’re playing well on third down, that’s the stuff that we’re really looking for.”NOTES: Rookie WR A.J. Brown left Tuesday’s session early after pulling up while working against defensive backs. The receiver was the Titans’ second-round pick out of Ole Miss in April. … The Titans have a new sand pit on the edge of their practice fields for players recovering from injuries and older players working on conditioning. Coach Mike Vrabel says he worked out with Joey Galloway a lot with both living in Columbus, Ohio, as they looked to push themselves as they became older players. “I noticed that my knees and my ankles probably got a little bit more sore than what they used to in training,” Vrabel said. “So we worked and did most of our stuff in the sand pits as we began to get a little older. … It’s just another modality for our guys to train with and try to help us.”