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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Bill Belichick isnt ready to rule out injured quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for Thursday nights game against the Texans.The Patriots coach also isnt interested in sharing any contingency plans he might have.Garoppolo was a limited participant in practice Tuesday as he continues to recover from the right shoulder injury he sustained late the first half of New Englands win over the Dolphins last week . The third-year quarterback sat out Mondays practice.The Patriots have yet to add another quarterback to the roster, increasing the possibility that rookie Jacoby Brissett could make his first career start against Houston (2-0) if Garoppolo cant go. In that situation, receiver Julian Edelman would be the emergency option.It didnt stop an onslaught of Garoppolo-related health questions on Tuesday. It drove Belichick to the point of agitation as he was pressed about Garoppolos status.He has been looked at. He has been treated, like every other player, Belichick said.As inquiries persisted, he made it clear that whatever is going on with Garoppolo, what was best for his health would take precedence.Im a football coach. Im not a doctor, Belichick said.But he does have a reputation of being a master of misdirection.Texans coach Bill OBrien has seen Belichick in action up close as a former Patriots assistant from 2007 to 2011.I think we have to be ready for their roster, OBrien said. We have to understand the skill sets on their roster.He also has memories of Edelman, a former college quarterback, showing off his skills during Patriots practices. OBrien was there when they initially drafted Edelman.He was a shotgun, wildcat quarterback at Kent State -- and really good at it, OBrien said. I can remember doing some of those things with him over the couple of years I was with him in practice there. So I know that he can do that stuff.There are also wild card players than can come into play as well, with OBrien noting that receiver Danny Amendola can also throw the ball.OBrien also has lots of respect for Brissett, a big load at 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, who he said looked very comfortable in the extended minutes he got during the preseason. It presents yet another preparation challenge for a Houston defense that has held its opponents under 15 points in each of their two victories over Chicago and Kansas City.Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler has respect for the position that both New England quarterbacks are navigating while trying to seize opportunities afforded to them because of the unavailability of a sure Hall of Fame quarterback.Osweiler, after all, just left a situation in Denver in which he found himself sharing time with former Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning. Its a setup that required both patience and discipline.I do know what Jimmys going through right now. Ive been in those shoes, Osweiler said. I was in those shoes for three and half years before I really got my opportunity. I say patience because thats a long time to sit and not play.The approach always must be the same, he said.Every single day you need to earn your spot on the roster, Osweiler said. Just from the way Jimmys been playing, I can tell he hasnt wasted a single day. Whether I was the backup or I was playing last year, I wanted to show up and get better every single day...There was a coach that told me `If youre not getting better, youre getting replaced.Game notes Tight end Rob Gronkowski was again a limited practice participant Tuesday as he works his way back from the hamstring injury that caused him to miss the first two games. He initially came out to Tuesday in full pads, but was sent back to the locker room to change his gear for helmets and sweatpants workout. I havent been in full pads for a while, so I kind of felt like I wanted to get used to it, he said. I wasnt allowed to wear them, so I had to take them off. He said he wants to play this week. Its not just up to me... and its not Thursday yet. ... Linebacker Donta Hightower was upgraded to a limited participant on Tuesday, his first practice since sitting all of last week and Monday with a knee injury. Fellow linebacker Jonathan Freeny was an addition to the injury list, limited by a shoulder injury. Defensive lineman Trey Flowers (shoulder) was also a limited participant, along with guard Jonathan Cooper (foot). CB Eric Rowe (ankle) sat out a second consecutive day.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower Cheap Custom Senators Jersey . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. 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"The Sabres called for permission and I appreciate that, Im flattered, Dudley told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun of ESPN. Custom Senators T-shirts .com) - Christian Ponder will get another chance to prove himself for the Minnesota Vikings, with head coach Leslie Frazier announcing Wednesday that the struggling quarterback will start this weekends game against the Green Bay Packers. Custom Senators Jersey China . Its an influence in football and a big part of the game. NEW YORK -- It was late in this US Open semifinal match, and once again, the lopsided nature of Serena Williams résumé versus her opponents didnt matter. Same as it didnt save Williams in four of her past five Grand Slam losses before this. This time, Williams tormentor wasnt her Australian Open conqueror Angelique Kerber, or Spanish upstart Garbine Muguruza, who surprised her in this years French Open final. It wasnt even a wily veteran like Roberta Vinci, who derailed Williams run at a calendar-year Grand Slam on this same court a year ago with arguably the most monumental upset in tennis history.Thursday night on the floor of Arthur Ashe Stadium, the new predicament Williams found herself in was a win-or-go-home tiebreaker against 24-year-old Karolina Pliskova, a 10th-seeded but largely unproven Czech. Williams was faced with the unenviable chore of trying to survive against the most prolific ace machine on tour. This while playing with an aching left knee -- a new ailment that only a few insiders knew that she had until after the match, which ended ingloriously for her with a double fault that sealed Pliskovas stunning 6-2, 7-6 (5) win.Just like that, all the history Williams was chasing -- a tie with Chris Evert for the record of seven US Open titles, a chance to break her tie with Steffi Graf at 22 majors, most in the Open era -- was put off for another day. When Williams wakes up Monday morning, she also officially wont be ranked No. 1 (Kerber will) leaving Williams forever moored in a tie with Graf for most consecutive weeks in the top spot, with 186.Im not talking about No. 1, thank you, Williams said during an occasionally terse news conference in which she allowed that her knee mightve contributed to the loss. Williams, though, hotly disputed fatigue from her three-set win over Simona Halep a day earlier was a factor.For Williams, who turns 35 on Sept. 26, the defeat nonetheless continued a troubling trend. By any measure -- the statistics, the anecdotal evidence, the way she has dominated tennis for two decades now -- Williams is the greatest player in tennis history, bar none. Theres no need to confine the praise to only the womens side of the sport.Including last months Rio Olympics, where Williams was sent crashing out in the third round by Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, what has been astonishing isnt just who Williams has lost to in the biggest moments the past year -- its how she has been losing. Even when her body hasnt betrayed her, as it did in the past month, nerves seem to haunt her. Her confidence seems more brittle than youd expect, given all that she has done. Errors come in bunches. Opponents are rushing in to capitalize.Williams has now lost four of her past five major tournaments to players that she had a combined career record of 18-2 against before she lost to them.Players still deeply respect Williams. But other than her win against Kerber for the Wimbledon title, Williams just doesnt project the same self-assurance or strike the same off-the-charts fear into her opponents that she used to.dddddddddddd And Muguruza had no problem saying that out loud after her French Open title win, telling reporters that players are seeing that Williams is more beatable now.Of course, Muguruza hasnt personally been able to build on her breakthrough win. She has fallen into the same struggles that Kerber admittedly did after she won her first Slam title. But still other players have performed like they agree with the Spaniard -- playing Williams doesnt spark the same feeling of inevitability it used to. Other players just seem to see a little daylight now against Williams, where before, they saw little to none.Romanias Halep said as much, too, after very nearly beating Williams in their three-set dogfight on Wednesday night. Afterward, she rued her failure to break Williams in the first game of the final set, saying if shed done that then, the ending wouldve been a different story.Pliskova played like one of the new believers, too. Williams is generally thought to have the greatest serve in the history of the game, but Pliskovas serve and return games were both better than Serenas on Thursday night.And the thing is, Pliskova had never even been past the third round of a Grand Slam tournament until this giant-killing 11-match summer winning streak shes on, which also included a win over Serenas sister, Venus, earlier in this tournament. With the victory, Pliskova became only the fourth player to beat both William sisters at the same Slam, joining Martina Hingis, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin.I said I dont believe it -- but actually, I do believe [I won], Pliskova said. I always knew I had a chance to beat anyone if Im playing my game.For Serena, who is used to doing the dictating, it was a frustrating night. But she refused to go as far as her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, did and blame this loss on her knee injury. (Mouratoglou said she suffered it against Halep on Wednesday, but Williams said she suffered a few rounds earlier.) The most Williams would allow was being hampered by the knee caused her focus to waver.I was making errors that I never make. So many simple, simple shots that I couldve easily made, she said.Williams has been so extraordinary for so long, any wobble in her play seems like a seismic event. But she has now had four such upsets in her past five Slams. She isnt just blowing these matches; her rivals are going out and taking them.Williams has dug herself out of too many trenches before in her majestic 22-year career to rush to any big conclusions that this is the beginning of her end as the games greatest player. But it has been happening for a year now.And its only natural to wonder. ' ' '