08-25-2016, 08:47 AM
ALAMEDA, Calif. -- The Oakland Raiders have added another proven veteran to their rebuilding defence, signing free-agent cornerback Carlos Rogers to a one-year contract on Monday. Rogers, 32, joins former San Francisco 49ers secondary mate Tarell Brown on Oaklands overhauled defence. The Raiders have also brought in defensive linemen Justin Tuck, LaMarr Woodley and Antonio Smith. All of those other players are at least 29 years old and have played in the Super Bowl in their careers as general manager Reggie McKenzie is counting on that experience to help end an 11-year playoff drought. "The Raiders have been one of the teams that have been more active in the off-season, trying to turn things around," Rogers said. "I see where this team is going and it wasnt hard to come here and finalize the deal." Oakland is coming off back-to-back four-win seasons and hasnt had a winning record since winning the 2002 AFC championship. After showing some promise early in the season, the Raiders defence wilted late and allowed the second-most points per game (28.3) in franchise history. Oakland has had two of the three highest scoring seasons allowed in coach Dennis Allens first two years with the franchise. That led to the big changes on defence this off-season. Rogers played an NFL-high 1,259 snaps as a slot cornerback in his three years in San Francisco, according to Pro Football Focus. He will likely play that role again in Oakland on the nickel defence and will also compete with last years first-round pick D.J. Hayden for a starting spot outside across from Brown. "We were a big part of the puzzle that turned San Franciscos defence around, so hopefully we can translate that over here and be even better," Rogers said. Rogers was let go earlier this off-season by the Niners in a cost-saving move. He said he holds no ill will to his former team but is looking forward to playing San Francisco this upcoming season. Rogers has started 116 games over nine seasons with Washington and San Francisco. He has 17 career interceptions and 109 passes defenced. His best year statistically came in his first season in San Francisco in 2011 when he had six interceptions and was picked for the Pro Bowl and earned second-team All Pro honours. That performance helped lead San Francisco back to the playoffs after eight straight years without a berth. Rogers played in three NFC title games in three seasons with the Niners and also lost the Super Bowl to Baltimore following the 2012 season. "I want to continue to win and I want to continue to be a big part of helping to turn this organization around, like I did in San Francisco and continue to win and try to get to that Super Bowl and win it," Rogers said. RALEIGH, N.C. -- Jordan McRae flew in to throw down a dunk on the break and increase Tennessees big first-half lead, then came down the floor to scream triumphantly toward the orange-clad fans near the court. Confident? Check. Enthusiastic? Yep. Maybe playing in the First Four to get the jitters out wasnt such a bad thing for these Volunteers after all. Jarnell Stokes scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help Tennessee beat Massachusetts 86-67 on Friday in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional, earning the programs most lopsided win in the tournament in seven years. Now 11th-seeded Tennessee faces 14th-seeded Mercer, which beat No. 3 seed Duke 78-71 on Friday, in the third round on Sunday. The game is a rematch of an NIT game won by Mercer at Tennessee last year. "We didnt come into this tournament saying, OK, if we beat UMass we can play Duke. Not at all," Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin said. "Our guys understand that its one game at a time. Anything happens this time of year." McRae added 21 points for the Volunteers (23-12), who had little trouble with the sixth-seeded Minutemen (24-9) in a surprisingly one-sided performance. Tennessee shot 54 per cent from the field, led by 20 points before halftime and used another strong defensive performance to shut down UMass. "We just wanted to keep our foot on the gas the whole time," McRae said. With that mentality, Martins club is building momentum at the right time of the season. "They understand and I guess they realize when you defend at the level were capable of defending at, these are the results behind it," Martin said. "Theyve really bought into it and embraced the fact that we can defend the way we defend because you can still score the ball, but scoring is a lot better when you can defend like this. "Theyre just playing with confidence as a team. Everybody understands their role and just wants to win as a family." The Volunteers had missed the past two tournaments and squeaked into this years field of 68, earning a trip to Dayton, Ohio to face Iowa in the First Four. But they controlled the boards and dominated the overtime to beat the Hawkeyes 78-65 in the programs first NCAA game since Bruce Pearls final game as coach in 2011. Martin had said he thought the win helped his Vols get the jitters out -- they didnt score until 6 minutes into that one -- while also giving them a taste of tournament intensity by fighting through a tough game.dddddddddddd He was right. Tennessee protected the ball against UMass pressure by committing three first-half turnovers, while Stokes and McRae led an offence that shot 52 per cent in the first half and kept coming up with press-breaking answers to turn away every spurt. "The Iowa game, we were just getting our feet wet, first time being here," said Jeronne Maymon, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Tennessee. "Then it was time to get down to playing basketball." This was Tennessees biggest margin of victory in an NCAA game since beating Long Beach State 121-86 in the 2007 first round, which came near the start of a six-year run of tournament appearances under Pearl. Stokes 14 rebounds tied the school record for an NCAA tournament game, equaling the mark set by Isiah Victor in 1999 and Reggie Johnson in 1980. Throw in Maymons performance, and it marked the first time the Vols had multiple double-doubles in an NCAA game since 1977. Chaz Williams and Maxie Esho scored 12 points each for UMass in its first NCAA appearance since 1998. But the Minutemen fell behind by double figures early, trailed by 19 at halftime and never got closer than 10 again. "We had a couple of great practices the past couple of days, and I felt like we were going to come out great," Williams said. "But once get under these lights and the crowd starts roaring, you start second-guessing." UMass came in averaging 76 points and shooting 46 per cent, but finished well short of those numbers with much of its production coming after the Vols had seized control. Tennessee led 38-18 on McRaes first-half dunk and pushed the lead to 24 points late. "This dont even seem real right now," said sophomore Derrick Gordon, the only UMass player to have tournament experience from his previous stop at Western Kentucky. "Its just a loss that just like, Man, am I still sleeping? Reality sets in, like we really just lost and it wasnt a loss by like four points. It was a loss by double digits." It was a frustrating finish for the Minutemen under coach Derek Kellogg, who was a player during Massachusetts 1990s surge under John Calipari. He started on a team that reached a regional final in 1995 during a run of seven straight NCAA appearances for the program, but his team never gave itself much of a chance to stick around Raleigh for another game. UMass shot 42 per cent and went 3 for 11 from 3-point range. ' ' ' Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping
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