eep him for a second season.While Quicks backup goalies typically dont get much action, they largely have excelled in recent years, at least partly due to coach Darryl Sutters mandates for puck

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Jacoby Brissett ran 27 yards for his first NFL touchdown, zigging when one poor Houston Texan zagged, and man, that had to be some feeling, right?Imagine the adrenaline rush for a 23-year-old rookie playing Tom Bradys position and scoring in the first quarter, on national TV, with a dash out of a third-stringers wildest dreams. It was a perfectly appropriate time for a young quarterback to celebrate himself, and it sure looked like Brissett was doing just that when he tucked the touchdown ball in his arm and ran toward the New England Patriots bench.But what did Brissett do when he arrived at the sideline? He handed the ball to his head coach, Bill Belichick, and gave him a hearty pat on the back before shaking the coachs hand. It was a small-picture window into a couple of big-picture truths about the Patriots:The players know a different man behind closed doors than the one who plays dead in his daily media conferences.Belichick could find a way to win on any given Thursday if he needed to start Rob Gronkowski at quarterback.This is no knock on Brissett, a third-round pick out of Florida and North Carolina State who already had earned the trust of Bill Parcells (who has acted as the quarterbacks father confessor) and Belichick, not an easy daily double to pull off, before this 27-0 shredding of the Houston Texans. Brissett showed remarkable poise under the circumstances, managing the game without taking too many unnecessary risks.With Jimmy Garoppolo down and out, Brissett knew his backup was a wide receiver, Julian Edelman, a truth demanding some caution on his part. And yet when he saw an opening on that touchdown run, Brissett wasnt afraid to pounce.I was just running until I got stopped, he said. So it worked out how we planned it was going to work out. Just had to make one guy miss at the end zone.After watching the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Brissett race around the right edge and toward pay dirt, who wouldve guessed that his 40-yard dash time at the draft combine (4.94) was slower than those recorded by the lead-footed brothers Manning, Peyton (4.8) and Eli (4.92), back in the day? Just another Patriot who plays faster and better than the stopwatch suggests.It was crazy, it was awesome, Brissett said. It was definitely great to see all the players run up to you, and I got a headache from all the head-bumping. But it was definitely worth it.Minutes earlier, as he dressed at his locker, Brissett turned to see an ungodly tangle of cameras and cell phones boxing him into his stall. He shook his head and smiled. Thirty-one teams in the NFL wouldve marched their winning quarterback into an interview room to field questions at an elevated podium, with a backdrop of team logos framing the scene. Bill Belichicks Patriots?No way some third-string rookie is going to be lifted above the team-first, team-second values that define the organizational ethos.At the same podium Brissett didnt qualify for, Belichick spoke of how much hed asked of his players in this short work week, and of how convincingly theyd responded. The Patriots plowed open enough holes to get LeGarrette Blount 105 rushing yards and two touchdowns. They were brilliant on special teams, knocking the ball loose, and on defense, making the same 6-foot-7 quarterback who ended their unbeaten run last year, Brock Osweiler, look smaller than the coin used for the opening toss.They played the game, Belichick said of his guys, exactly the way we asked them to play it. It wasnt perfect, Im not saying that. But they tried to do what we wanted them to do, and as a coach you just cant ask for any more than that.This was a purists delight, a three-hour documentary on the hows and whys of New Englands dominance since Brady took over for Drew Bledsoe 15 years ago Friday. Belichick had to drop down to No. 3 on the depth chart at the most important position in the sport by 10 country miles, and he had to do it against a protégé who knew his program and what made it tick about as well as anyone.Bill OBrien, son of nearby Dorchester, walked into his old Gillette Stadium office with a hopeful bounce in his step. He had a 2-0 team and, for the first time in Houston, a young quarterback he believed in as much as he believed in Christian Hackenberg at Penn State. OBrien also had some people around the league predicting that he would be the guy who bucked the trend of former Belichick aides who flamed out after venturing outside that ever-protective Foxborough cocoon.Nick Saban might go down as the greatest college coach of all time, but he was a product of Belichicks mostly miserable time in Cleveland and, of course, he went 15-17 in his two seasons as head coach of?the Miami Dolphins. Charlie Weis went 41-49 at Notre Dame and Kansas with no major bowl victories. Romeo Crennel went 28-55 for the Browns and Chiefs with no playoff appearances. Josh McDaniels went 11-17 in Denver. Jim Schwartz (Cleveland division) went 29-51 for the Lions with one playoff loss, and Eric Mangini went 33-47 with the Jets and Browns with one playoff loss -- to Belichick. Saban, Crennel, McDaniels, Schwartz, and Mangini combined to win 38 percent of their NFL games without delivering a single postseason victory.You can understand why all those guys got jobs coming out of Bills system, one former New England executive said. Theyre all good coaches, no question. But what owners around the league seemed to forget when they hired Bills assistants is that they werent bringing Bill with them.Or Brady. OBrien didnt have Brady on his side anymore, either, but he did show up Thursday night with a winning NFL record (20-14), a playoff appearance and a track record that showed he wasnt afraid of any challenge. He did follow Joe Paterno at Penn State. He did sign up to coach in the immediate wake of one of the most tragic college scandals of all.In Houston he has surrounded himself with all sorts of former Belichick coaches and players. Crennel. Mike Vrabel. George Godsey. Larry Izzo. Vince Wilfork. OBrien even hired the former Patriots scout who helped discover Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler, Frantzy Jourdain. It made sense, too. If your goal is to dominate the AFC like the Patriots have over the past 15 years, why not hire as many old Patriots as possible?None of it mattered Thursday night. OBrien and his team were completely outclassed by Belichick and his.Their program has been in place for a long time, OBrien said. They have what I think is the best head coach in the history of the league and they do a great job.Its funny how this has worked out, too. Belichick made his name in this league as a defensive coordinator, one of the best around, and over time he has developed into a formidable offensive mind, with an assist from McDaniels. He has practically the Abner Doubleday of the slot receiver position. He has turned Gronk into a monster. He has preserved an aging Brady with a quick, short passing game. He has proved he can go 11-5 with Matt Cassel?and 3-0 with Jimmy Garoppolo?and Brissett.Belichick might as well start Edelman under center against Buffalo to stick it to commissioner Roger Goodell, who never fathomed the Patriots would bleed all remaining air out of Bradys Deflategate suspension by going 4-0 in his absence. Chances are, assuming Garoppolos shoulder doesnt heal, the Patriots will stick with Brissett, who wouldve ended up with a touchdown pass had Edelman not dropped one in the back of the end zone.Given that Brissett made history as the first African-American quarterback to start for the Patriots, Doug Williams, the first African-American quarterback to win the Super Bowl, watched on TV with great interest. Now an executive with Washington, Williams had given Brissett a third-round grade before the draft. His marks were a bit higher after the quarterbacks first start.He didnt set the world on fire with [103] passing yards, Williams said by phone, but he was efficient, he showed poise, he showed athleticism, and he operated exactly the way his coaches wanted him to operate. They didnt want him to be an All-Pro tonight. I liked how all his teammates ran to him in the end zone; that tells me they like him. And I liked it when Bill Belichick put out his hand for a handshake and Jacoby handed him the ball instead.As it turned out, Belichick gave the ball back to his winning quarterback after the game, just as he had with other gift-giving Patriots of the past. Its all about the players, the coach kept saying with conviction, and he didnt feel any great need to single out Brissett.But without a healthy Gronk, Belichick leaned on a rookie to stay clear of J.J. Watt and to secure New Englands 22nd consecutive home victory over a non-divisional AFC opponent. Before leaving his Gillette Stadium locker room for the night, Brissett looked up at a clock and said, Damn, its already midnight. Past my bedtime.Somehow, some way, the leagues best coach made it to 3-0 with a kid at quarterback. In two weeks, Tom Brady wont be returning to a broken system. Just one that keeps getting notarized against all odds. Custom Arizona Coyotes Jerseys Cheap . Neymar curled home a free kick from just outside the area to put the 2014 World Cup host ahead in the 44th minute. Three minutes after the break, a simple through pass from Paulinho freed Oscar and the Chelsea star rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to extend Brazils lead. Custom Anaheim Ducks Jerseys Cheap . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second. http://www.hockeyjerseyscustom.com/ . 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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Kings placed Jonathan Quick on injured reserve Thursday after the star goalie got hurt in the first period of their season opener.Quick incurred an unspecified lower-body injury during Los Angeles opener at San Jose while making a fairly ordinary stretch to stop a scoring chance by Joe Pavelski. Quick was replaced by new backup Jeff Zatkoff for the final two periods of the Kings 2-1 loss.The club described Quicks absence as week-to-week.The Kings recalled NHL veteran Peter Budaj from their AHL affiliate in Ontario. Los Angeles home opener is Friday night against Philadelphia.With Quick sidelined by a potentially serious injury, the Kings 50th anniversary season has been thrown into turmoil after just one game. The unorthodox, athletic American goalie is exceptionally important to the Kings, playing in 140 of their 162 regular-season games over the past two seasons.Quick backstopped the Kings to two Stanley Cup titles and won the 2012 Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason MVP. He won the Jennings Trophy in 2014, and he was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy in 2012 and again last season.Quick also is a two-time U.S. Olympian who played at the World Cup of Hockey last month, although he claimed that his early start to the season didnt affect his preparations for the Kings.Zatkoff was a third-round draaft pick by the Kings in 2006, and he spent four seasons in their minor-league system without ever cracking the NHL lineup.ddddddddddddHe signed with Pittsburgh in 2012, and he won a Stanley Cup ring last summer after starting two playoff games for the Penguins on the way to the title.Zatkoff, the former college roommate of Kings defenseman Alec Martinez, re-signed with Los Angeles in July. He won a training camp competition with Budaj and Jack Campbell for the backup job behind Quick.Budaj is a 34-year-old Slovak veteran who spent nine NHL seasons with Colorado and Montreal. He passed through NHL waivers last week, allowing the Kings to keep him for a second season.While Quicks backup goalies typically dont get much action, they largely have excelled in recent years, at least partly due to coach Darryl Sutters mandates for puck possession-based hockey, tight checking and sturdy defensive play by every skater.Martin Jones matched an NHL record by winning his first eight NHL starts in late 2013 while Quick was sidelined for seven weeks with a serious groin strain. Jones won a Stanley Cup ring as Quicks backup later that season before moving to the Sharks last season and reaching the Stanley Cup Final again. ' ' '