ssession on the right and skipping past Yacob before nutmegging Jonas

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Geno Smith still thinks of himself as the New York Jets starting quarterback. Until hes told otherwise. Smiths up-and-down rookie season ended with four solid games as the Jets finished 8-8, but out of the playoffs. Both coach Rex Ryan and general manager John Idzik have said that while Smith improved greatly, they will wait until they see whos on the roster in a few months before considering their starters at any position. "It motivates me," Smith told The Associated Press on Friday. "I know Rex, and he knows how to push my buttons. Im definitely going to go into this season as I always do: with a chip on my shoulder with that edge." Smith was in midtown Manhattan serving fans from an ice cream truck as part of a promotional event for New Era caps — a few hours after Ryan did the same. Smith, who had 12 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions, is expected to be in the quarterback mix whether the Jets sign a veteran or draft someone to compete with him. But, it appears he didnt do enough for the Jets to anoint him the starter as they head into the off-season. "Ive gotten better, but Ive got a long ways to go," Smith acknowledged. "Ive got to continue to progress and Im going to take this year just as I took last year, and thats to try to get better every single day." Smith declined to comment on his recent off-field issues, which included a disagreement with a flight attendant at Los Angeles International airport, for which Virgin America airline later apologized. "Nah, were not talking about that stuff," he said. Taking a quick break from handing out ice cream cones on Super Bowl Boulevard in Times Square, Smith talked about how much he enjoyed seeing the area jam-packed with football fans getting ready for the NFLs biggest game Sunday at MetLife Stadium. It also reminded him of his ultimate goal on the field. "Just being here and being around this atmosphere has definitely made me even more hungry," he said. "Just to get into this position has been something Ive been longing for my entire life, so I just want to work toward it." Smith started all 16 games for the Jets after claiming the job once Mark Sanchez went down for the season with a shoulder injury in the preseason. There were flashes from Smith at times, particularly with four winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime of the Jets first seven games. But there were also troubling stretches, such as the seven-game stretch midway through the season in which he had one touchdown pass and 11 interceptions. While Smith insisted "I dont do grades," he said he learned a lot on the job — a crash course in life in the NFL that not many rookie quarterbacks get to experience. "It was very valuable, man," Smith said. "Not only from the standpoint of being on the field, but off the field. All the emotions I had to go through and all the good and bad things I had to go through, and ultimately, it strengthened me. "It made me a better player and made me a better person off the field." ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org Fake Lakers Jerseys .com) - Patrick Reed poured in a 19-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole Monday to defeat Jimmy Walker and win the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Los Angeles Lakers Shirts . Hughes, 30, is a former Major Leaguer with the Baltimore Orioles, having played in 14 games with the Os in 2010. He played with Class AA Binghamton of the Eastern League in the New York Mets system last season. https://www.lakersjerseycheap.com/ . Here at TSN.ca we will take a look back at the season by bringing together a panel of experts to help pick the best 50 players of the season. Los Angeles Lakers Gear . The time off didnt slow them down. Tyler Zeller scored a season-high 18 points and grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds, Kyrie Irving added 14 points and the Cavaliers pushed their winning streak to five games Tuesday night with a 114-85 victory over the skidding Philadelphia 76ers. Custom Los Angeles Lakers Jerseys . The ongoing funk on penalty kill and an unusually quiet night on home ice for the power play divided the Leafs from the Bruins at the ACC in a rare Sunday night affair.LONDON -- Manchester United was lurching towards another setback in its English Premier League title defence until Wayne Rooney inspired a second-half fightback to beat Stoke 3-2 on Saturday. Rooney headed United level in the 78th minute at Old Trafford and Javier Hernandez nodded in the winner two minutes later. Although the comeback will ease the immediate pressure on manager David Moyes, United provisionally remains eighth, eight points behind leader Arsenal. Arsenal won 2-0 at Crystal Palace, with Mikel Arteta scoring a penalty before being sent off, while Olivier Giroud headed in the second goal. Liverpool produced the most convincing victory of the day, with Luis Suarez scoring a hat trick in a 4-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion that lifted the team to second place, two points behind Arsenal. Everton is provisionally in fourth place with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa in the latest installment of the most played fixture in English football history, coming on the day the Football Association celebrated its 150th anniversary. Southampton moved provisionally third with a 2-0 win over Fulham after Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez scored for the hosts. The Saints are arguably the biggest surprise team this season in the Premier League -- not counting Man Uniteds unexpected struggles. The last two decades in English football have been dominated by Manchester United, but in their first season since 1985-86 without Alex Ferguson in charge, the team is far from convincing. Moyes side has already dropped 13 points this season after it looked like the ninth league game would witness more misery. Peter Crouch bundled the ball into the net after just four minutes after Stoke left back Erik Pieters beat United defender Chris Smalling to cross to the striker. Stoke, managed by former United star Mark Hughes, remained a threat throughout the first half. Robin van Persie levelled for United in the 43rd after goalkeeper Asmir Begovic failed to fully save Rooneys header. But Stoke was back in front before the break after Marko Arnautovic sent a free kick into the top corner of the net. Boos rang out around Old Trafford at half time, and United took until the 78th to level again with Rooney flicking a header into the net from Van Persies corner. Two minutes later came another headed goal, this time from Hernandez and the game was won for United. "Stoke have not scored many but they have not conceded many either, so we knew we would have to worrk hard after going behind," Moyes told the BBC.dddddddddddd. "I was worried it wouldnt come -- especially when we were 2-1 down. But I think we deserved it in the end." But it is Arsenal setting the pace in its hunt for a first league title since 2004. At Crystal Palace, Arteta opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the London derby two minutes into the second half after Serge Gnabry was fouled by Adlene Guedioura. But Arsenal had to play the last 25 minutes with 10 men when Arteta was adjudged by referee Chris Foy to have brought down former Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh when he was still about 35 yards away from the goal. Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny protected Arsenals lead with a diving one-handed save to tip away a long-range shot by Mile Jedinak. But there would be no equalizer for Palace, which is next from bottom and searching for a new manager after Ian Holloway left on Wednesday. Olivier Giroud headed in Arsenals second in the 88th after connecting with Aaron Ramseys cross. "We were mature, organized and didnt become nervous and we got the second goal," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. Arsenal is showing it is coping fine without Suarez, who was pursued unsuccessfully during the summer transfer window. At Anfield, though, there was no stopping Suarez in front of goal on Saturday. The first goal came after 12 minutes, with Suarez picking up possession on the right and skipping past Yacob before nutmegging Jonas Olsson and netting with an angled shot. The Uruguay striker was on target again with a header five minutes later from distance, and he completed his hat trick by nodding in another 10 minutes into the second half. James Morrison grabbed one back for West Brom from the penalty spot before a spectacular long-range lob from Daniel Sturridge completed Liverpools convincing win. At Villa Park, Christian Benteke squandered an early chance to put the hosts in front when Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard saved his penalty after eight minutes. Bentekes Belgium teammate Romelu Lukaku then put Everton ahead in the 69th minute with his fifth goal in five games, and Leon Osman added the second in the 81st to hand Villa its fourth home loss of the season. Everton only has one loss in nine games and provisionally climbed above Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham, who all play Sunday. Norwich remains in the relegation zone after drawing 0-0 with Cardiff, which is just a point higher up. ' ' '