ASHBURN, Va. Bill Laimbeer Jersey . - Jay Gruden got the full Washington Redskins circus distraction experience all in one day. A protest against the name, a bus wreck on the way to the stadium, Robert Griffin IIIs return from an injury, a media report the coach called amateurish, and a defence that allowed a rookie quarterback to put up 29 points.And perhaps the most Redskins indicator of them all: The record is 3-6 for the fourth straight year.If ever a team needed a bye, its this one. They could use of the break to figure out how to tune out the outside noise. Sundays 29-26 loss to the Minnesota Vikings had all the makings of an all-too-typical Redskins day from the last decade or so.From a mental standpoint, you want your team to be thinking about the Minnesota Vikings, period, Gruden said Monday. I want Robert and I want the offence to be thinking about Mike Zimmers Double-A package and blitz package and how were going to attack. I want the defence to be thinking about Teddy Bridgewater and their zone-checks and what they have to do, instead of reading tweets about theres locker room separation, whatever, and having bus wrecks and all that stuff.So there was a little bit of things that mightve took our mind off the important thing, which is the Minnesota Vikings.The Redskins couldnt do much about the accident involving team buses on the way to the game — Were four tire rotations from driving off a cliff, Gruden said — and the players were largely isolated from the thousands who marched outside the stadium calling for the team to change its nickname.But a pair of media reports clearly raised some ire at the Redskins facility.One said that several members of the organization believe the order to start Griffin on Sunday came from owner Dan Snyder and general manager Bruce Allen. The other linked a group of players boisterous behaviour toward media and a public relations staffer during a Griffin group interview to an allegation that Griffin has alienated himself in the locker room.Gruden launched a blistering retort to the second report, calling it amateurish from some small-time reporter reporting fiction.But the first-year head coach is quickly learning that its all part of the deal in Washington.Weve got a young team. We have some fragile egos here, he said. The guys are young guys, trying their best, and they read in the paper that nobody likes em and theyre alienated and blasy, blasy. It just doesnt seem right.But as a football player, as an NFL football player playing here, you have to expect it. ... The big thing is we cant let anything tear the locker room apart.All the distractions could have been neatly swept away if the same defence that disrupted Tony Romos life just six days earlier couldve done the same to Bridgewater, who led two long, answer-back drives in the fourth quarter. Gruden said the staff will spend the upcoming bye week re-examining their defensive schemes.As for Griffin, he did OK after missing six games with a dislocated ankle but made two poor throws at critical times — an interception before halftime that led to the Vikings first touchdown, and a short-armed effort on fourth-and-6 that landed short of an open Pierre Garcon in the games final two minutes. He also was sacked five times, showing hes still yet to get a good feel for pressure around him in the pocket.As for the 3-6 record, theres no telling what it portends. In 2011, the Redskins finished 5-11. In 2012, they never lost again in the regular season, going 10-6 and winning in the NFC East. In 2013, they never won again and ended up 3-13.Asked to give his team a pre-bye grade, Gruden said from a human being standpoint, Id give him an A.Bad thing is we dont get credit for being good guys, Gruden said. We get credit for wins and losses, and thats not good enough. The grade is 3-6. ... Thats probably a D or an F-plus.Notes: RB Silas Redd, who had back spasms from the bus accident and was inactive for the game, underwent an MRI on Monday. Gruden said there was no structural damage and that Redd will be fine. ... Gruden said TE Logan Paulsen has a chance of playing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the bye. Paulsen is battling plantar fasciitis in one of his feet.___AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL___Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP Tobias Harris Jersey .com) - Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James will sit out Thursdays game against the Oklahoma City Thunder with left knee soreness. Jerry Stackhouse Jersey . The American secured his first back-to-back ATP match wins since June to leave Tsonga relying on his performance at next weeks Paris Masters to clinch one of the final three places for the season-ending event in London. Tsonga would have moved up one spot to No. 6 with a win over Querrey at the City of Arts and Sciences, but his serve deserted him in the second set as the 116th-ranked American broke twice to reach the quarter-finals. http://www.basketballpistonsauthority.com/langston-galloway-pistons-jersey-c-32/ .com) - New England Patriots starting center Bryan Stork will not play in Sundays AFC Championship against Indianapolis due to a knee injury the rookie sustained last week. NEW YORK -- Daniel Carcillo provided the burst of energy the New York Rangers were counting on in Game 7. The big goal was quite a bonus. Carcillo gave the Rangers the lead with the first of their two second-period goals, and Henrik Lundqvist did just enough to hold off the Philadelphia Flyers and send New York into the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 2-1 win on Wednesday night. Carcillo was added to the lineup, after he sat out the previous two games, and the move paid instant dividends. He turned a crisp pass into his second goal of the series at 3:06 of the middle frame. "When youre in, you try to do something to stay in, whether it be offensively or bring a lot of energy," Carcillo said. "Thats just what I was trying to do every time I was in this series." Benoit Pouliot stretched the Rangers lead to 2-0, and Lundqvist made it stand up with a 26-save effort one night after New York was beaten 5-2 in Philadelphia to set up the decisive Game 7. "No one was jittery. We all knew what to do," Carcillo said. "On this team, no one was shying away from the big stage." Lundqvist watched the third period of Game 6 from the bench, and started his preparation then for Wednesday. "Coming home last night, I was so disappointed," said Lundqvist, who improved to 4-1 in Game 7s. "But at the same time, I was mad because we couldnt come up with a better performance. To play a Game 7 at home and to win, that was the inspiration. "We played a really strong series. I think we were the better team. We pushed the pace almost every game. We definitely earned this one." The Rangers knocked out the Flyers about 24 hours after being pushed to the limit, improving to 6-0 in Game 7s at Madison Square Garden. New York will face another Metropolitan Division rival, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the next round starting on Friday. Lundqvist allowed only a third-period goal to Jason Akeson at 4:32. He protected the one-goal lead at 7:25 when he made an awkward save against Flyers captain Claude Giroux. The Rangers mobbed Lundqvist after the final buzzer, while the Flyers consoled their goalie, Steve Mason. Mason, who didnt start until Game 4 because of a concussion he admitted to after the game Wednesday, was sharp in stopping 31 shots. He just couldnt will his club to a complete comeback after the Flyers fell into a 3-2 series hole. "Game 7, lose 2-1, it doesnt get any closer than that," Giroux said. "We did a good job staying in the battle. We have a lot of character in this room, and for a young team I think its great. This is only going to make us stronger." No team won consecutive games in the series. The Rangers, who finished two points ahead of Philadelphia dduring the regular season, made the most of their home-ice advantage by taking three of four in the Garden. Mateen Cleaves Jersey. . Carcillo scored the all-important first goal off a picture-perfect pass from Mats Zuccarello. Zuccarello threaded the puck with a behind-the-back feed from near the right circle between the legs of Flyers defencemen Andrew MacDonald and Braydon Coburn to Carcillo for the redirection. "Usually those are the toughest ones to pick up. I missed one in Game 4 backdoor," Carcillo said. "To track it through two sets of legs and then to get decent wood on it and see it go in, is a good feeling." Carcillo played for just the third time and the first at home. He had come out of the penalty box less than a minute earlier after serving a penalty for too many men on the ice. The Rangers nearly doubled the lead later in the frame when they mounted a flurry of pressure, only to be stymied by Mason and done in by errant whacks at the puck. But Philadelphia couldnt capitalize on that or on two power plays in the period in which the Flyers were outshot 18-5. "We didnt initiate enough and play with enough aggressiveness as a team," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "Our game overall, we didnt play our best hockey." New York took a 2-0 lead with 8:14 left in the second when Pouliot also turned a sharp pass into his second of the series. Derick Brassard sent the puck from the right-wing boards into the slot. Pouliot streaked down the middle, snared the puck, and steered it past Mason to send the once-nervous crowd into a towel-waving frenzy. "We had a lot of legs in the second period," forward Brad Richards said. "We rode the fans momentum, killed two big penalties. Every line went out there and was just moving their feet and creating problems for them." The Flyers held an 11-10 shots advantage in the first scoreless opening period of the series. New York again failed to capitalize on the lone power play in the frame, stretching its streak of futility to 21 straight advantages. When the Rangers did pressure Philadelphia, Mason stood tall as he did in winning Game 6. Lundqvist matched Mason at the other end as the Flyers had several stretches of puck possession within the Rangers zone. "He was awesome," Carcillo said. "He is an elite goalie for a reason." NOTES: Carcillo replaced J.T. Miller, who had played in the previous two games. Carcillo is 3-0 in career Game 7s and has scored in two of them. Carcillo had four goals in the regular season in 57 total games with Los Angeles and the Rangers. ... The Flyers dropped to 9-7 in Game 7 after winning their previous three. ... This was the only first-round series that didnt require overtime. 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