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05-03-2017, 02:48 AM | #1 |
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SANTA CLARA, Calif. Doug Martin Womens Jersey . -- Blake Costanzo had been keeping busy re-tiling his bathroom back home in New Jersey and doing regular yard work. He remained optimistic he would land himself a job, even as free agency lingered into its fourth month. The linebacker and special teams standout rejoined the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday, signing 2 1/2 years after leaving the organization to play for the Chicago Bears. He signed a one-year contract for the veteran minimum of $855,000 for players with seven to nine years of experience. "The biggest thing is this stadium right behind here," Costanzo said of what has changed, looking toward $1.2 billion Levis Stadium. "There are a lot of new faces, but there are also a lot of guys I played with. Its a good opportunity to come out here and play some football again. I was doing too much yard work at home." The 30-year-old Costanzo played 16 games for Chicago last season and finished with nine tackles and a forced fumble while also contributing on special teams. After flying cross country Monday, Costanzo participated in Tuesdays organized team activity, and was one of the last players to return to the locker room after a session in the weight room. He said he spoke to a couple of other teams, but "the timing was right here." "This was a good opportunity for me to come here, compete and maybe help some younger guys they have on the roster," Costanzo said. "My only competition is myself. Im going to try to find a way, whatever it may be." Costanzo is also learning some new aspects of the playbook from special teams coach Brad Seely, who also coached him in Cleveland and brought him to the Bay Area for the turnaround 2011 season, coach Jim Harbaughs first year. "Blake was here with us a few years ago. Hes a great guy -- a guy who comes to work every day and a great team player," linebacker Patrick Willis said. "The guy is going to go out there on game day -- or even practice -- and gives it everything hes got. Were very fortunate to have a guy like that on our special teams. We lost some guys who had been some key special teams players for us, so to add Blake back is really going to help us out big time." San Francisco will count on the depth at linebacker that Costanzo helps provide given All-Pro NaVorro Bowman is recovering from a left knee injury sustained in the NFC championship game. Bowman could miss at least half the season. In addition, linebacker Aldon Smith might face a multiple-game suspension from the NFL for his off-field legal issues over the past two years. Last month, Smith pleaded no contest to three felony weapons charges and two misdemeanour counts of driving under the influence. He faces a sentence ranging from spending no time in custody to a maximum of four years and four months in jail. Smith is scheduled to be sentenced July 25, two days after the 49ers open training camp in Santa Clara. He left the facility Tuesday offering a thumbs-up. "For us, its not something we worry about. Hes out here working. Hes practicing every day," Willis said. "Hes working out every day. Hes been a great teammate. Thats our focus right now: worrying about the present. When that time comes, whatever is decided, thats what it will be. Well have to get better as a football team. If hes not out there, then as with last year, some of the guys will have to step into his place and play big time." Nose tackle Ian Williams believes he will be full strength or close to it by the start of training camp next month. A first-year starter, Williams 2013 season ended with a broken leg and torn ligaments in his left ankle in Week 2 at Seattle. He has had four surgeries since, the most recent in February to have a metal plate removed. "It took a lot out of me," Williams said. "Things happen for a reason. Im back, though, Im back." NOTES: Not on the field during team drills Tuesday: WRs Stevie Johnson, Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin, TE Vernon Davis and RG Alex Boone. The teams mandatory minicamp is June 17-19. ... New T Jonathan Martin worked out on the side and in the weight room as he recovers from mononucleosis. ... The Niners waived guard Al Netter on Tuesday. Robert Ayers Jersey . The Goldeyes (10-7) lost 4-1 to the Saltdogs (8-9) Sunday afternoon before 5,834 sizzling fans at Shaw Park. The loss drops Winnipegs record to 3-4 during this past weeks seven-game homestand. Cameron Brate Jersey . Blown save in the ninth inning? No problem. Authentic Kwon Alexander Buccaneers Jersey, Big & Tall Kwon Alexander Womens Jerseys Sale . Or how his team has defended Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Or just about anything that has happened on the court in the first-round playoff series. Instead, Rivers and his players spent Saturday talking about how they would respond to an audio recording of a man identified as Clippers owner Donald Sterling telling his girlfriend not to bring black people to games.TORONTO - Fresh off one of his most impressive outings of the season, DeMar DeRozan sat by his locker and spoke about carrying his suddenly injury-ridden team while a small piece of gauze soaked up the blood on the hand he used to carry them. Theres some irony there, somewhere. DeRozan needed "four or five" stitches to close a gash in the webbing of his left hand following Wednesdays surprising 107-103 win over the Houston Rockets. "I didnt even notice," he said. It happened late in the fourth quarter as he tried to rip the ball away from Omer Asik. "I looked down and my whole hand was soaked." "It wouldnt stop bleeding. But its cool." Next to Terrence Ross, the Raptors healthiest starter might be the guy with the bloody mitt. They had been fortunate to avoid the injury bug for most of the season but, as they say, when it rains, it pours. Suddenly, its hit them like a monsoon. Missing Kyle Lowry for the first time this season, out with soreness in his left knee, Toronto lost another indispensable cog when Amir Johnson was removed three minutes into Wednesdays game, having tweaked a lingering right ankle ailment. Just a few minutes later the Raptors fell behind by 12 points. With eight games left in their feel-good, Cinderella season the sky was falling, or so we thought. Fact is, this wouldnt be the first time theyve been written off, left for dead. They havent followed the script to this point, so why would they start now? "Guys stepped up," Dwane Casey said. With Patrick Patterson leading the charge in his second game back from an elbow injury, the second unit immediately captured momentum. John Salmons played his best basketball in months while Nando De Colo and Tyler Hansbrough both gave Toronto a lift with their energy off the bench. Greivis Vasquez, starting in place of the injured Lowry, filled in admirably at the point, recording eight assists without committing a turnover in a season-high 40 minutes of action. But no one was quite as impressive as DeRozan. The all-star guard faced all the additional defensive attention you would expect without Lowry in the lineup but after a 12-minute adjustment period he put the team on his shoulders and got to work. "I had to pick up the slack with [Lowry] out," said DeRozan, making just one of his five shots in the first quarter. "I havent really played without Kyle, hes played every game. It was an adjustment for me tonight but I figured it out there after the first quarter." DeRozan scored 15 of his game-high 29 points in the second quarter, connecting on all six of his attempts in the frame, including a 32-foot bank shot to end the half. Rising to the occasion, DeRozan was at his best when his team needed him most; the mark of a true all-star. The Raptors have two players that fit that description. With DeRozan sidelined for a couple games in late February, Lowry led Toronto to a pair of victories, scoring over 30 points in each contest. Now it was his turn to carry the load. "Theyve been doing it the whole year," Vasquez said of the teams star backcourt. "Both [of them]. Its not hidden thatt theyre our leaders. Gerald McCoy Womens Jersey. We go as they go and everybody understands that. This is why we have a healthy locker room. Were not fighting egos. We know whats going on. Those two guys are going to score, those two guys are going to make winning plays for us and weve just got to feed off their energy. Whenever those guys go down weve got their back, thats what this team is all about." Lowry originally sustained the injury colliding with LeBron James in Mondays loss to the Heat. Although there was no structural damage to his knee, it was still swollen on Wednesday and the teams medical staff decided it was best to hold him out, much to the dismay of Lowry, one would imagine. "If it were up to him he would go one leg," Casey joked before the game. "But you dont want to risk his future health for one game." Even in his absence, Lowrys tendencies seemed to rub off on his teammates. DeRozan took a rare charge. Vasquez tried to do the same, though he was called for a blocking foul. "I know he was laughing," Vasquez said of Lowry, who leads the league in drawing charges. "He knows I dont take charges." The good news for the Raptors is that neither Lowrys knee injury or Johnsons bum ankle appears too serious. Both players will benefit from some much-needed rest during Thursdays off day and hope to be ready for Fridays home tilt with the Pacers, Torontos final game against a winning opponent this season. "Weve been very lucky not to have had some major injuries, knock on wood, throughout the year," Casey said. "The little injury bug has hit us a little bit. The schedules not going to stop. Weve got to keep going. Next man up." Casey reaches milestone With the victory, Casey notched his 100th win at the helm of the Raptors, becoming the third coach in team history to reach that plateau, joining Sam Mitchell and Lenny Wilkens. Asked about the accomplishment after the game, the Raptors third-year bench boss shifted the focus to his players, as expected. "All I know is its [win] number 43 for us this year," he said. "Its not about [me]. Its about the team, its about the organization, its about the players that have been here the three years and the process that weve gone through." "To start where we did and kind of build, and were still building, is a tribute to the young guys and the players that have been through here." The stat The Raptors will finish the year with a 16-14 record against Western Conference teams, their first season above .500 versus the West since 1999-00. The quote "Ever since I was in New Orleans I wanted to start my whole career," said Vasquez, who made his second start as a Raptor after doing so in all 18 games with the Kings this season and all 78 he appeared in with New Orleans last year. "But when I came here I really humbled myself and understood that its about winning more than about putting up numbers. I can go out there and play 36 minutes and put up crazy numbers but what about the playoffs? What about making winning plays?" "So Im going to be ready, man. I love this team and Im willing to do whatever it takes." 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