Moderatoren » Travis Frederick at first stayed engaged with his teammates

FRISCO Drew Lock Jersey , Texas (AP) — because the Dallas Cowboys center wasn’t sure how long he would be out with a neurological disorder diagnosed during training camp.By the time new offensive line coach Marc Colombo offered him a headset after Colombo was promoted as part of a midseason change, Frederick figured, “What the heck.” And by then, it had become increasingly clear the four-time Pro Bowler was unlikely to play this year.Now Frederick has a completely different view of the sideline with the Cowboys on the verge of making the playoffs without the 2016 All-Pro, and an offseason plan to return to the field now that he’s mostly over the effects of Guillain-Barre syndrome.“I feel like I have been at least able to lend some of my knowledge and experience for some of the guys that haven’t played nearly as much,” Frederick said. “It’s been good having another set of eyes. I didn’t realize how difficult it is to watch five guys play at the same time and be able to help.”Frederick will have the headset again Sunday when the Cowboys (8-6) try to wrap up the NFC East title, which they can do by beating Tampa Bay (5-9) at home.The 27-year-old’s immediate football future has been uncertain the past four months , since he finally got an answer to why he was experiencing what felt like football “stinger” injuries in his upper body during camp in California.Guillain-Barre is an auto-immune disease that attacks nerves and leads to weakness in various parts of the body. Frederick said his case was detected early , which helped avoid some of the severe symptoms that can include paralysis and difficulty breathing.Even with the expected full recovery, Frederick knew getting back in football shape would take weeks, at a minimum. All along, he wanted to do what he could in meetings and sideline chats.Frederick has always been in charge of the line calls, pretty much from the moment he stepped in as a rookie starter in 2013 and went on to play the first 83 games of his career, playoffs included. Still, the view with the headset has surprised him.“It was definitely an eye-opening experience trying to understand how much was happening during a game and how difficult it is for, like the coordinator to be able to call those plays that quickly,” Frederick said. “You don’t think about it when you’re watching the game. It just flows.”The “quasi-coaching role,” as Frederick put it, hasn’t changed his long-range outlook much, with five years remaining on the contract he signed in 2016. But he did get something out of a season that easily could have been classified as a lost cause.“He’s been with us every step of the way, doing everything he can to get himself back,” coach Jason Garrett said. “He’s also really engaged with our guys. You talk about the job Marc Colombo has done with some of the guys who are playing, Travis has been a big part of that.”Injuries are hampering the Dallas line again late in the season, with 2014 All-Pro right guard Zack Martin missing the first game of his five-year career against Indianapolis after aggravating a preseason knee injury two weeks ago in a win over Philadelphia.Rookie Connor Williams began the season as the starting left guard before a knee injury opened a spot that Xavier Su’a-Filo kept with a solid performance as his replacement.Williams re-entered the lineup in Martin’s spot, and Su’a-Filo missed part of last week’s 23-0 loss to the Colts after getting poked in the eye by teammate La’el Collins. Su’a-Filo was a full practice participant Thursday.During the first half of the season — before other ailments starting hitting the line — the Dallas offense was inconsistent at best. The addition of receiver Amari Cooper in a trade helped boost production during a five-game winning streak.All along, running back Ezekiel Elliott stayed in contention for his second NFL rushing title in three seasons. He has a 98-yard lead over Todd Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams with two games remaining.Joe Looney has started all 14 games in Frederick’s place — one more start than the career backup had in his first six seasons combined. Looney said Frederick has been there with pointers on techniques and pass-blocking philosophies, among other things.“It’s been good knowing that our goal always is to improve through the year http://www.broncoscheapauthenticstore.com/dre_mont-jones-jersey-cheap ,” Frederick said. “To see that this group is improving and has improved fairly steadily throughout the year, it’s sort of a proud moment, knowing that I couldn’t be out there but these guys are doing that and I’m doing what I can.”Regardless, Frederick will happily trade the headset for a helmet in eight months. In the topsy-turvy NFC playoffs, only the Falcons return from last year, and they sneaked in as the sixth and final team. They narrowly avoided the same fate as the Cowboys, Seahawks, Packers, Giants and Lions – all sitting this one out. The top five seeds are newcomers, led by the Eagles. They are going with a backup quarterback and are making their first trip to the postseason party since 2013. The Vikings are back after a year away, hoping to become the first team to ever play a Super Bowl in its home stadium . The five new teams went a combined 32-48 in 2016 but 59-21 this season, providing hope to all those franchises and fans who are already preparing for free agency and the draft. The field features just two Super Bowl winners, the Rams at the turn of the century when they were based in St. Louis, and the Saints in 2010, when they upset the Colts and Peyton Manning. The Rams, in the playoffs for the first time since 2004, host the Falcons on Saturday in the showcase of wild-card weekend. The Saints, who ended a four-year playoff drought, host the Panthers on Sunday. Strength and weakness of each team: — 1. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (13-3). No Lombardis: lost Super Bowl 15 to Oakland in 1981 and Super Bowl 39 to New England in 2005. Hope: The Eagles have the NFL’s third-ranked rushing offense with three productive backs: Jay Ajayi, LeGarrette Blount and Corey Clement. They’ll have to rely on them more to take pressure off QB Nick Foles and a passing attack that has struggled since second-year sensation Carson Wentz tore his left ACL in December, a major blow to the Eagles’ bounce-back season . Nope: Foles isn’t Wentz, who was a leading MVP candidate when he got hurt. But the offense still has plenty of pop and talent, and Foles has the ability to get on a roll. He needs to develop more chemistry with receivers during the bye, be more consistent and avoid mistakes. Otherwise, the Eagles could fall into the trap that befell the Cowboys last year when Dallas became the first No. 1 seed not to reach the Super Bowl since 2013. The Dope: ”We’ve got some good work the last couple of weeks with Nick, and we’ll go back and evaluate all of that. We have to get better in the run game. That helps any quarterback obviously, so we have to get better there. Then just taking a look at what his strengths are http://www.eaglescheapauthenticstore.com/shareef-miller-jersey-cheap , strengths and weaknesses. Everything at this time of the year now becomes magnified even more going into the postseason.” – coach Doug Pederson. 2. MINNESOTA VIKINGS (13-3). No Lombardis: Lost Super Bowl 4 to Kansas City in 1970, Super Bowl 8 to Miami in 1974, Super Bowl 9 to Pittsburgh in 1975 and Super Bowl 11 to Oakland in 1977. Hope: The defense , with all due respect to QB Case Keenum and the job he’s done. The Vikings ranked second in the league in both fewest rushing yards and fewest passing yards allowed, so there’s not really a one preferred way to attack them. No team gave up fewer points, either. With Pro Bowl picks at each of the three position groups yet a selfless attitude that’s kept individual players from chasing splashy plays or padding statistics at the expense of the scheme, coach Mike Zimmer’s unit will be a challenge for any opposing QB, especially in Minnesota at raucous U.S. Bank Stadium. Nope: There aren’t many culprits, but Kai Forbath will certainly be a person of interest. Vikings fans still wince thinking about stunningly missed field goals by Gary Anderson (1998) and Blair Walsh (2015) that cost their team seemingly certain postseason victories. Forbath has been better than his predecessor Walsh, but he has missed eight extra points in 23 games with the Vikings. He also missed five of 15 field goals over the last seven games of this season. The Dope: ”Guys have to understand that you have an opportunity here to do some great things and you have to take advantage of that opportunity. If you don’t, you’ll probably regret it for the rest of your life.” – DE Brian Robison. 3. LOS ANGELES RAMS (11-5). Last Lombardi: Super Bowl 34, beat Tennessee 23-16 on Jan. 30, 2000, while based in St. Louis. Hope: The NFL’s most surprising comeback story shows few signs of ending prematurely. L.A. has the talent and smarts on both sides of the ball, with the league’s highest-scoring offense led by QB Jared Goff and MVP hopeful RB Todd Gurley. The Wade Phillips-led defense remains a strength with DT Aaron Donald disrupting offenses weekly. Rookie coach Sean McVay has outsmarted his older foes with impressive regularity. Nope: They can’t act like they’ve been here before, because they haven’t. Only six Rams have any playoff experience whatsoever, easily the fewest in the current field. McVay, Goff, Gurley and Donald have never been under the postseason spotlight, where every mistake is magnified. So the big question is whether they’ll continue to thrive under pressure or crater. The Dope: ”There is a lot of value in experience. This is a very humbling business. … You try to learn from the experiences that you do have and not try to repeat the same mistakes twice. But I think, for a younger team, we’ve demonstrated a maturity throughout the course of the year.” – McVay, who was born 20 days after the Rams last hosted a playoff game in Southern California on Jan. 4, 1986. 4. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (11-5). Last Lombardi: Super Bowl 44, beat Indianapolis 31-17 on Feb. 7, 2010. Hope: Although Brees passed for his fewest yards (4,334) since joining the Saints in 2006 Zach Brown Jersey , he was as efficient as ever, setting a single-season record with his 72 percent completion rate. And Brees didn’t need to throw as much because the Pro Bowl running back tandem of Mark Ingram and rookie Alvin Kamara combined for 1,852 yards rushing. They also performed well as receivers, particularly on screens, each gaining more than 1,500 yards from scrimmage. Nope: Although the defense made remarkable strides this season – particularly in sacks and interceptions – injuries have added up over the course of the season. They lost a productive starter at each level of the unit: defensive end Alex Okafor, middle linebacker A.J. Klein and strong safety Kenny Vaccaro. The Dope: ”It’s been a long season. We’ve had our ups and downs at times. We’ve shown ourselves what is possible. Obviously, you play the regular season to give yourself an opportunity to get into the tournament and that’s where we are now.” – Brees. 5. CAROLINA PANTHERS (11-5). No Lombardis: lost Super Bowl 38 to New England in 2004 and Super Bowl 50 to Denver in 2016. Hope: They have one of the league’s best defenses behind LB Luke Kuechly, LB Thomas Davis and DE Julius Peppers. They also have more playoff experience than any team in the NFC playoffs – by a wide margin – and a versatile former league MVP at quarterback in Cam Newton . Carolina has three times run for more than 200 yards in a game this season, and that bodes well for the playoffs where the ground game is magnified. Nope: Despite an 11-5 record in the toughest division in football, the Panthers don’t match up well against first-round foe New Orleans and could be one and done. The Saints beat them twice in the regular season by a combined score of 65-34. If Carolina can get by the wild-card round, it has the potential to make a deep run. But the pressure will be on Newton to perform because Carolina’s wide receivers aren’t going to scare anyone. The Dope: ”We all know what they say about pressure, that it does one of two things. We’re hoping to shine like diamonds on Sunday.” – Newton. 6. ATLANTA FALCONS (10-6). No Lombardis: lost Super Bowl 33 to Denver in 1999 and Super Bowl 51 to New England in 2017. Hope: Improved defense provides better balance to a team motivated by last year’s Super Bowl defeat. The Falcons were top 10 in scoring defense and total defense for first time since 1998 Super Bowl season. Defense boasts young, athletic playmakers, including LB Vic Beasley Jr., the 2016 NFL sacks leader, LB Deion Jones, LB De’Vondre Campbell and S Keanu Neal. Offense still has explosive potential with QB Matt Ryan, WR Julio Jones, WR Mohamed Sanu and RB Devonta Freeman. Nope: Offense took huge step back after leading league in scoring last season. Ryan’s regression makes 2016 MVP season look like outlier in his career. Freeman and RB Tevin Coleman each missed time with concussions and offensive line is missing LG Andy Levitre, who was placed on IR this week with a triceps injury. The Dope: ”You spend the last 20 weeks gaining a lot and now you get to test that, where your brotherhood is, where your game’s at. We know the easy road’s not for us. That’s the hard road, and we like those opportunities. We understand you have to earn them, and we’ve done that.” – coach Dan Quinn. —