ERST LESEN! » ar, you can expect huge things

CLEVELAND -- Theres nothing Joe Thomas hasnt experienced during a stormy decade with the Cleveland Browns.Amid the firings, the hirings, the draft busts, the regime changes, the mistakes, the quarterback conundrum, the losses and, oh yes, Johnny Football, Thomas, a once-in-a-generation left tackle, has personified class and cornerstone consistency while the franchise that selected him with the third overall pick in 2007 has wandered aimlessly as an NFL laughingstock.The man has seen it all. Everything, except a 0-16 season.And thats staring Thomas in the facemask.But as the Browns (0-12), first-year coach Hue Jackson and his staff mercifully reached their bye week just four losses from infamy and shame, Thomas believes things arent as bad in Cleveland as they may look.I do see some progress even though, obviously, no wins this year is disappointing, said Thomas, the eighth player to be selected to the Pro Bowl in his first nine seasons. But definitely the ship is headed in the right direction.The Titanics captain muttered the same thing before clipping the iceberg, but Thomas is convinced Cleveland will emerge from these dark days -- the dimmest in the teams 66-year-history, worse even than the 1999 expansion season -- into a bright future.Its been another one of those years for the Browns, who have lost at least 10 games in eight of the past nine seasons.It hasnt helped that Clevelands roster, overhauled by a new front office that decided not to re-sign several free agent veterans in favor of stockpiling draft picks, has been shriveled further by key injuries.Jackson was dealt a dreadful hand, but Thomas, who has never missed a snap as a pro and played on a damaged right knee this season, has been impressed by the way his sixth coach in 10 years has persevered.Hue has been exceptional, Thomas said, noting Jacksons ability to motivate, his football I.Q. and steadiness.There are no signs Jacksons job is in jeopardy. In fact, Jackson, who became emotional when describing the difficulty of this season following Sundays loss to the New York Giants, said he has assurances from owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam that hes not in trouble.The Haslams have already fired three coaches -- Pat Shurmur, Rob Chudzinski and Mike Pettine -- since taking over the team in 2012.I have trust in the people who hired me, said Jackson, adding he asked for guarantees before taking the job in January.Im not distracted by what my fate will be because I never would have taken this job if I thought it was going to be anything other than me being here and seeing this through.Being 0-12 is hard on anybody. Thats hard, period. I dont like to lose, and I dont like being in this situation, but I know we are going to fix it.How were going to fix it is together. We have to do it brick by brick and step by step. I know we are in the midst of doing that.While his players get away, Jackson planned to work through the break, determined to get a victory over the final four weeks. Hell have starting quarterback Robert Griffin back after the bye -- hes been out since Week 1 -- and RG3s return could infuse some life into an offense that has produced just 39 points in the past four games.Only five teams have started 0-13 since the 1970 merger, and the Browns are desperately trying to avoid moving into the 0-16 basement as roommates with the 2008 Detroit Lions.To Jacksons credit, the Browns are still playing hard despite being outmanned.Thomas said that fight-to-the-finish mentality is due to a belief among the players that the extensive building project, though unfinished, will not include any more demolition.Some of the years past when youre sitting in this situation with a poor record, the coach is imminently going to get fired, all the players on the team are going to get cut and traded and released and theres a bomb thats going to get dropped on the organization, said Thomas, who has had just one winning season in Cleveland.The optimism and positivity and the effort you still see out there on a daily basis is because everybody here knows were working for something down the line in the future and its not going to get destroyed at the end of the season.Thomas has been fooled before. The 2016 season reminds him of 2013, when coach Rob Chudzinski was let go after just one year following the finale at Pittsburgh.I thought `No way are they going to fire him. That would be idiotic, he said. I couldnt believe it. But we did, and thats the way it was, I guess. That was the most shocked Ive even been.Three years later, the Browns, who will face Cincinnati, Buffalo and San Diego the next three weeks, will finish up on the road against the Steelers again. Only this time Thomas feels the end of another demoralizing season represents a beginning.Theres a lot still for this team to play for in that regard because we do know these coaches are going to be here, he said. A lot of these players are going to be here. So this is our opportunity to start building for next year.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Cheap NFL Jerseys . Oyama had six birdies and two bogeys at Kintetsu Kashikojima in the event also sanctioned by the Japan LPGA Tour. "I have been having this neck ache thats been affecting my golf recently," Oyama said. Cheap Throwback Jerseys . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. http://www.cheapnfljustjerseys.com/ . Emery skated the length of the ice and fought an unwilling Holtby during the third period of the Flyers 7-0 loss Friday night in Philadelphia. He was given 29 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct. But Emery did not face even a disciplinary hearing with NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan because rules 46. Cheap NFL jerseys China . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Wholesale China Jerseys . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. Kevin Durants decision to leave Oklahoma City for Golden State not only sends shockwaves throughout the Western Conference and all the NBA, it also drastically changes the way we should look at the fantasy values of stars like Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.We need to recognize something here -- never before has one move impacted so many top-20 caliber fantasy talents quite like this one.With Durant on the Warriors, not only is he going to have a harder time finding the 19.2 shots he averaged this past season, but so will Curry (20.2) and Thompson (17.3).How this plays out is anyones guess, and it doesnt help that Warriors coach Steve Kerr loses a key assistant in Luke Walton to help with this transition, but its easy to envision a scenario where the Warriors ride the hot hands on a nightly basis. Notice I said hands - plural.If the Splash Bros arent hitting, thats a game where the team can live off of Greens energy and feed Durant. If Durant is cold, then maybe thats a game he turns into more of a distributor and lets Curry or Thompson fire away from 30 feet. Any way you slice it, the pressure wont be on Curry and Durant to save the day all the time as theyve had to do in the past, but roles will have to be established.Who takes the shot with the game on the line? Down one late, do you set up Curry or Thompson for an open three or do you feed Durant on the block and let him go to work with a big size advantage? These are the things Kerr will have to determine over the course of next season and, while it wont be easy, its certainly a nice problem to have.But none of this is good for the Warriors as far as fantasy is concerned.As much as Durant is on upgrade over Harrison Barnes, its easy to overlook what Barnes complementary role allowed the Warriors stars to do in recent years. Barnes, who signed an offer sheet with Dallas for four years, $95 million that now wont be matched by Golden State, averaged 9.6 shots a game from the small forward spot this season after putting up a mere 8 shots per game in 2014-15.Barnes was shooting fewer than 10 times per game and Andrew Bogut barely ever looked to score (4 shots per game this past season), enabling Curry to take control and earn back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards. The passive nature of Barnes and Bogut was also a big reason why, even with guys like Thompson and Green on the court, Curry was still able to average 20.2 shot attempts in 2015-16.That changes with Durant in the fold.There are only so many shots to go around, and theres a good chance that Durant, Curry and Thompson will all see their shot attempts drop by 1-3 per game. All of their scoring numbers are also going to suffer some as well, maybe not to the degree that LaMarcus Aldridge saw after joining San Antonio or Kevin Love experienced in Cleveland , but enough to be concerning.dddddddddddd.As such, Curry is no longer a surefire No. 1 pick in fantasy going into next season, with guys like James Harden and Russell Westbrook knocking on the door for that top spot. I still wouldnt let him drop past third in any draft, though.Durant drops a bit as well, going from a second or third overall pick to somewhere in the 4-6 range. LeBron James will be drafted ahead of Durant in some leagues.Thompson, who may be the most negatively impacted out of everyone, becomes a bit of a reach in the second round. He finished this past season at No. 18 on ESPNs Player Rater, but it wouldnt surprise me if his shots per game dipped into the 14-15 range, which would hurt his scoring and 3-point production -- the two best parts of his game.Green is the one player I feel less worried about from a fantasy standpoint. He just does so much other than score, and a lot of his scoring comes in ways like transition and put-back baskets that wont be affected by the arrival of Durant. Look for Greens rebound numbers to take a slight dip thanks to the presence of the 6-foot-9 small forward, but his assist numbers should rise beyond the 7.4 he averaged in 2015-16.I mentioned Westbrook above, and to me hes the other big winner here -- not in real life, where his Thunder wont be the same without Durant -- but in terms of putting up numbers.Last season, Westbrooks usage soared from 31.8 with Durant on the floor to 40 whenever the star forward was off the court. As he enters a contract year, you can expect huge things out of Westbrook next season. Look for his scoring to approach 30 PPG as he attempts around 22-23 shots per game, even if it means a sizeable drop in his career-high assist numbers (10.4 APG) from last season.Victor Oladipo might have been a complementary player to Durant, but now he becomes the second scoring option on a Thunder team that is very backcourt oriented. OKC is a better system for his skill set and he has a good chance to put up career numbers after finishing 40th on ESPNs Player Rater last season in Orlando.More shots will also be available for emerging big man Steven Adams, who looked like one of the games best centers in the playoffs and is entering his fourth season in the league. He averaged only 5.3 shots a game last season, but his growing confidence on the offensive end and the absence of Durant could cause that number to jump to 9-10 next season. ' ' '