BEREA, Ohio -- Vince Young doesnt take anything for granted.
Zach Brown Bills Jersey . Not after the road hes been down. Once of the NFLs rising stars before personal problems
sidetracked the quarterbacks career, Young signed a one-year contract on
Thursday with the Cleveland Browns. Although rusty, Young who hasnt played in a
regular-season game since 2011, showed enough during a three-day tryout to get
the deal. Its been a long climb back for Young, who wont celebrate with so much
work to be done. "Theres no popping the champagne bottle," he said. The
30-year-old Young comes with an impressive resume after going 31-19 as an NFL
starter and making two Pro Bowls. He was signed along with free agent QB
Tyler Thigpen and linebacker Zac Diles shortly after the Browns completed their
first minicamp under new coach Mike Pettine. This is another fresh start for
Young, who spent part of the past two preseasons with Buffalo and Green Bay but
hasnt appeared in a game since Dec. 18, 2011, for Philadelphia. He has endured
financial problems, dealt with emotional issues and tried to balance his
personal life while keeping his professional one afloat. Young is thankful for
the new opportunity and plans to do all he can to convince the Browns that hes
worth hanging onto for a while. After being offered a contract, Young told the
Browns that instead of flying home to Texas, he planned to stay the weekend in
Cleveland so he could become more acclimated with the teams playbook and to work
out. "Right now I have my head down, just wanting to work and show the team, the
organization what type of guy I am," Young said. "That was my whole focus and
how much hard work I put in." Pettine said there were some moments over the past
few days when Young looked like the Young of old. "He took off and ran for a
first down, we just finished up a rack of third down plays here and you could
tell hes very rusty," Pettine said. "I was just joking with him the other day
that rust was falling off in large clumps, but he flashed a couple of times. You
dont realize how big he is until you stand next to him. "We talk about all these
6-foot, 5-11 quarterbacks in the draft and then he comes walking out and you
say, Oh, thats what theyre supposed to look like." Young acknowledged there were
moments he felt like himself, and others when he struggled. "There is definitely
some rust on there," he said. "The biggest thing is I just want to get down to
my playing shape, eating right and try to get a feeling with the team, what they
do with their workouts and things like that. "I just want to be around the team,
be around the coaches and show them the part that they never see, the hard work
that I do put in. Thats what theyre really about to see now." Thigpen was out of
the league last year after playing six seasons with Kansas City, Miami and
Buffalo. Hes 1-11 as a career starter with 21 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.
"Its a great opportunity," he said. "I thought for a while there that the door
was going to close, but now that opportunity has opened back up. Its time to
take advantage of it." Young and Thigpen will be penciled in on the depth chart
behind Brian Hoyer, who looked good in his first on-field work since undergoing
knee surgery in October. Pettine was pleased with Hoyers progress. He was
limited to individual and 7-on-7 drills, and hopes to be cleared for more in
June. "As far as his preparation, how he approached the practice field, how he
interacted with the players, it was as we expected and then some," Pettine said.
NOTES: The Browns have until Saturday to pick up the fifth-year, $5.5 million
contract option on DT Phil Taylor for 2015. Taylor promised the teams decision
will not affect how he plays this season. "Im still going to go out there and do
what Ive got to do for the team," Taylor said. "Im still a Cleveland Brown and
Im going to be a Cleveland Brown until Im not." ... WR Nate Burleson was excused
from the final day of camp.
O. J. Simpson Bills Jersey . And he was nowhere near his best Friday night. And yet, he still won. Pablo Sandoval and
Brandon Hicks homered to back a wildly effective Lincecum, and the San Francisco
Giants beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2.
Robert Woods Bills Jersey . -- Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden is optimistic Robert Griffin III will return this
season. TORONTO -- Tyler Bozak and the Toronto Maple Leafs spent a lot of time
chasing the puck. It was exactly the kind of possession game the Minnesota Wild
want to play: one that frustrates an opponent. "They got the puck a lot of the
time, so its kind of hard for you to get shots when theyre cycling on you,"
Bozak said. In the end, it didnt matter. The Leafs were outshot 37-14 but
generated some opportunistic offence in a 4-1 victory at Air Canada Centre on
Tuesday night. "Minnesotas a team that eliminates chances and shots big-time,"
said Toronto goaltender James Reimer, who made 36 saves. "You watch any game
they play, and youre lucky if you get 20 shots on them. I wasnt expecting us to
get 40 on net tonight, but what we do so well is even though we dont get the
most amount of shots, we capitalize on our chances and that was the case." The
Leafs improved to 6-1-0, continuing their best start since 1993 when they opened
10-0. But the way theyve managed to overcome some weak play and keep winning is
somewhat masterful. Coach Randy Carlyle conceded that this one was again not a
work of art and knows his team cant continue this level of play and expect the
same positive results that have been there so far. "Some nights were going to
get our butt kicked playing like this," he said. The way the Wild (3-2-2) put on
a clinic in maintaining and protecting the puck, especially in the offensive
zone, couldve spelled disaster for Toronto. Sparked by four early power plays,
they carried the momentum everywhere except the scoreboard. Thats because the
Leafs scored on their first shot, a tap-in from the crease by Bozak after a
tic-tac-toe passing play with Dave Bolland and Cody Franson 4:24 into the game,
and on their third shot, a five-hole goal by Trevor Smith 13:51 in. Reimer
expressed empathy for Minnesota goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who was chased from
the game after allowing Mason Raymond to score Torontos third goal on its
seventh shot. Josh Harding faced just seven shots the rest of the way. "Honestly
I kind of feel sorry for Kuemper," Reimer said. "Thats a tough first start of
the year to come into where youre not getting much chances and then all of a
sudden theres a tic-tac-toe in front and then a breakaway. You cant get into a
rhythm. For him, his game was by far the hardest out of any of us three."
Reimers job wasnt easy, by any means. Making his first appearance since being
pulled Oct. 5 against Ottawa, Reimer was tested plenty early because of a
barrage of penalties. Being on the receiving end of a shooting gallery while
shorthanded wasnt what Reimer would have liked, but it helped get him into the
game after so much time off. "I think as a team youd rather face less becauuse
every shot is a chance for the puck to go in," he said.
Dan Carpenter Bills Jersey. "But as a goalie, you like to feel the puck and get those shots. You dont want necessarily scoring
chances but shots. Its nice to get in the game but at the same time a couple
less power plays wouldve been good, too." The Wild took four penalties, but two
of the Torontos three power plays turned into goals. The Leafs were happy to win
the special-teams battle on a night they didnt have their best game. But the
heavy shot disparity provided the Wild with no moral victories. "Theres no
consolation in us coming here and saying, Oh we outshot them, we outplayed
them," forward Zach Parise said. "We didnt win." Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said
he has been part of 4-1 losses, "but not many of them felt like that." The same
could be said in the home locker-room, where the Leafs followed a familiar
script of being outshot and still celebrating at the end of the night. They put
just 13 shots on net twice last season and won both games. The Leafs franchise
record for fewest shots in a victory is nine, set March 4, 1999 when they beat
the St. Louis Blues 4-0. They could chalk up Tuesdays victory to some timely
goals and more timely saves from Reimer, who on one occasion stopped
Mikael Granlund after the puck hopped over Phil Kessels stick and on another
made a save on Torrey Mitchell following a neutral-zone turnover by
Dion Phaneuf. "By no means was that our identity, what we want to play like out
there," said Raymond, who scored an empty netter when Kessel let the puck go in
without touching it in front. "We werent real good in a lot of areas, but we
also found a way to win. As we keep saying, we arent going to take away from our
wins, but theres definitely lots of room for improvement." Thats the conundrum
for Carlyle, who is seeking improvement as the wins keep coming. "Again, were in
a situation that its hard to be critical when youre getting points," he said.
"Were not going to continue to accept whats happening but we have to find a way
to mould this from a different angle that our level of play has to increase."
Notes -- James van Riemsdyk was scratched from the Leafs lineup because of an
upper-body injury that forced him to leave the morning skate early. Smith, who
was recalled from the AHLs Toronto Marlies, replaced him in the lineup while
Troy Bodie was a healthy scratch. ... Defencemen Mathew Dumba (healthy) and
Keith Ballard (injured) were scratched by the Wild in favour of Marco Scandella
and Nate Prosser. Minnesota can play Dumba up to five more games before deciding
whether to keep him around or send him back to the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL.
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