Patriots C Dan Connolly excels as fill-in

The Patriots have had three players starting with them for the first time on the offensive line most of the season.

Left tackle Matt Light hurt his ankle in pregame warmups, so Mankins started in his place with Donald Thomas getting the call at left guard. And when Mankins was injured early in the game, Solder moved to left tackle and Marcus Cannon, another rookie, went in at right tackle.

“Kick returner, right?” Connolly said with a laugh Monday after the New England Patriots’ first practice for the Super Bowl against the New York Giants on Sunday.

“Nick, when he was in there, did a great job,” left guard Logan Mankins said. “He stepped up those two weeks and did a fine job for us. He made a majority of the calls. We couldn’t have asked anything more of him.”

Dan Connolly barely gets noticed when he does his best work super bowl xlv jerseys, a 313-pound center surrounded by wide bodies trying to control the line of scrimmage.

Now there’s a chance Vollmer will play against the Giants.

Connolly fielded it on two bounces at the 25-yard line and clutched it to his stomach with two hands. He made it all the way to the Packers 4, swerving, stiff-arming and speeding downfield. His 71-yard kickoff return was the longest by a lineman in NFL history. It set up Tom Brady’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Hernandez that cut the Patriots deficit to 17-14. They won 31-27.

He credited Dante Scarnecchia, a Patriots assistant since 1991 and offensive line coach since 1999, with easing his transition from guard victor cruz jersey, his primary position the past two seasons.

Brian Waters was signed after 11 years with Kansas City to replace the retired Stephen Neal at right guard. Rookie first-round pick Nate Solder started 11 regular-season and two playoff games at right tackle, while Sebastian Vollmer sat out with back and foot injuries. Then there are the changes at center.

The Patriots also had to scramble in the next to last regular-season game against Miami.

“I think it goes back to practice,” Connolly said. “We don’t just play five guys in there all the time and don’t rotate. We put everybody in, different combinations of people, and I think over the years and through 110 practices through the season it pays off when we get comfortable playing with any combination of who’s in there.”

Somehow, Tom Brady still gets outstanding protection.

Late last season hakeem nicks jersey, he was near the front of the return team when Green Bay’s Mason Crosby, wanting to keep the ball from Brandon Tate, kicked a low drive short.

“There is definitely a possibility,” coach Bill Belichick said. “I don’t know if we will know about that until we put him through the full week of practice. He is definitely making progress, so he is getting there.”

“I’ve played with anybody they could put in there,” he said, “so I know they’re going to do the job.”

Connolly was on the Patriots practice squad throughout the 2007 season after signing before the second game and didn’t play in the 17-14 Super Bowl loss to the Giants.

Now he’s filling in again, although at a position he’s more familiar with. When nine-year starter Dan Koppen suffered a season-ending injury to his left knee in the season opener, Connolly stepped in at center and the line was just as solid.

It took just one play, though, lasting perhaps 10 seconds, to put him in a spotlight players his size almost never enter. And that led to his tongue-in-cheek comment about what he would do if he weren’t an offensive lineman.

“It was probably something he’s been working on for years new york giants customized jerseys,” said Connolly, who will face the Giants aggressive pass rush. “When I was needed I was able to just step in and do it and not even think about it. I think he just prepared me a long time ago to be ready.”

After Koppen was hurt this season, Connolly started nine games then was sidelined with a groin injury. Ryan Wendell stepped in for the next one but injured his calf. Then it was Nick McDonald’s turn patriots super bowl jerseys, starting two games before Wendell came back for one until Connolly was ready again.

No matter who plays the offensive line on Sunday, Connolly expects them to perform well, just as he’s done.

Cowboys’ fantasy questions for the offseason

Murray should start as the primary RB with a shift to a time-share as the season wears on. That makes Murray an early middle-round pick and Jones an early late-round selection.

Can TE Jason Witten return to fantasy elite prominence?

The Cowboys remain solid for fantasy owners at the QB and TE positions, though TE Jason Witten's value is sure to take a hit with the emerging WR corps. Tony Romo remains an elite fantasy QB when healthy.

At the RB position eli manning jersey, whom do you target, Felix Jones or DeMarco Murray?

Witten is becoming a product of not enough footballs to go around. Combine that with the team using him to block, and his best days may be behind him. His diminished value coincided with Laurent Robinson emerging in the second half of the season. He ended with a per-game average of 4.9 catches for 58.9 yards and 0.3 TDs on 7.3 targets. Because of injuries and so many other viable targets in the second half, Witten did lead all receivers in targets with 117, but there's no doubt Robinson's 80 targets cut into his.

Tony Romo has shown the ability to move and spread the ball around and with a receiving corps as deep as they may have, this position could be a nightmare for fantasy owners. 

Look at Witten as a solid No. 2 fantasy tight end if you're conservative, because many will overvalue him. You can't fall into that trap going into draft day. If one of the receiving corps suffers an injury, he has upside, so don't assume he's done. It's not always the sexy pick that wins championships.

Dez Bryant has the raw talent to be elite but reportedly still has to improve as a route runner. However, he's entering his third season in the same offense and should take the next step. There are high expectations giants customized jerseys, and it's never too early to begin talk of outplaying an old contract cheap eli manning jersey, so all signs should point to him having a blockbuster season. However, at age 23, many believe he has maturity issues based on his past actions. He has the talent and ended the season with a per-game average of 4.2 catches for 61.9 yards and 0.6 TDs on 6.9 targets. If he can overcome his maturity issues, watch out as he has upside based on talent.

What will the WR breakdown be?

What many don't realize about Murray is that he was injury-prone in college and new england patriots customized jerseys, despite an outstanding seven-game stretch, he ended the season on injured reserve with a fractured ankle. It happened during the fantasy playoffs in Week 14, helping to send many owners to quick exits. From Week Six to Week 13, he averaged 23.4 utilizations for 136.1 yards from scrimmage and 0.3 TDs per game. Outstanding fantasy numbers for any back.

Jones is a quality back who can't stay healthy, making him a potential Darren Sproles clone in the best scenario but more likely being used in a third-down or change-of-pace role. Using him in that capacity could help him stay healthy for a full season, helping fantasy owners in the long run. Jones left owners in the lurch with a subpar performance in Week 16 (4-24-0) after helping owners advance to the championship game. In Week 14 (137 yards from scrimmage) and Week 15 (131 yards from scrimmage) he showed he can post big numbers. He quickly wears down when asked to carry the load, as Week 16 showed. With only one TD all season, he ended the season averaging 14.25 utilizations for 66.3 yards from scrimmage and 0.1 TDs per game. 

Look for an Austin-Bryant starting duo, with Robinson playing in multiple sets. Robinson has enough value to be a No. 3 fantasy receiver. Austin will be a No. 2 fantasy WR alongside Bryant. There aren't enough footballs to go around, so don't overvalue them on draft day. They should not be candidates for early rounds but somewhere in the middle based on league size, roster requirement and rules. Austin's the safe pick, with Bryant having the most upside and Robinson having value if he drops in the draft.

Miles Austin will return as the No. 1 but missed six games, and despite scoring three TDs in his final four games, he did not surpass 63 yards in that span. To make it worse, he went 4-40-1 in Week 16. He ended the season with a per-game average of 4.3 catches for 57.9 yards and 0.7 TDs on 4.6 targets. These numbers are going to make him an early middle-round selection between injury concerns and two other receivers of quality to compete with for targets.

Right now, Laurent Robinson is a free agent who wants to stay in Dallas. He ended the season with 11 TDs and three games over 100 yards, along with a per-game average of 3.9 catches for 61.3 yards and 0.8 TDs on five targets. Those are quality numbers from a source that was unexpected when the season started. If he does return, his numbers will suffer as long as Bryant and Austin are the starters. Remember super bowl sweetheart jerseys, he was a starter while Austin was out.

Not just a freak Giants' Pierre-Paul transforms into playmaker

"Every quarterback can be rattled; there's no guy who can't be," he said. "Even the great ones. You do your assignments, don't do anything out of the ordinary, just do what you do."

The Giants didn't hit Patriots quarterback Tom Brady a lot in their 24-20 win over New England earlier this season super bowl sweetheart jerseys, but they still won. Pierre-Paul thinks the defense needs to do a better job this time around.

"He's a thoroughbred," said two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who lost his starting job to Pierre-Paul through a combination of injuries and just better play. "His motor wes welker jersey, man, just never stops."

 Jason Pierre-Paul is no longer the freakish athlete with big upside.

Pierre-Paul has created his own little highlight film in helping the Giants (12-7) get to Super Bowl XLVI for a second matchup with the Patriots (15-3) in four years.

His 16.5 sacks were the most by a Giant since Michael Strahan had 18.5 in 2003. His 29 quarterback hits were 19 more than any other teammate, and his 23 tackles for loss were 10 more than linebacker-defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, who was second in that category for New York.

If the Patriots are going to avenge their loss to the Giants in the 2008 Super Bowl, they will have to slow down Pierre-Paul, which might be tough because it will open things up for Umenyiora and fellow defensive end Justin Tuck.

"First off, he's an athlete," Kiwanuka said. "He probably can do a number of things on the football field but at the position he is at victor cruz jersey, he definitely excels. His understanding of what our defense is asking him to do hakeem nicks jersey, and you combine that with the point in the season where people started focusing on him and he adjusted to all the double teams and shifts and all that kind of stuff. He's definitely a professional now."

The second-year defensive end's days of impressing his New York Giants teammates with his athleticism are over. What stands out for the rest of the Giants these days -- more than his one-handed catches in practice while laterally jumping over rectangular foam obstacles -- is what the 23-year-old Pierre-Paul is doing on the field.

"This year, I know all the calls, and I'm not thinking as much superbowl love pink," the former South Florida star said. "Last year, it was on and off, I was a little slow on that, so they allowed me to play slower. My pass rush is better, run defense is better. Everything is coming to mind quicker."

After being taken with the 15th pick overall in the first round in 2010, Pierre-Paul had to learn how to play in the NFL.