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HOUSTON - The Houston Texans are back below .500 and searching for answers to fix their stagnant offence as they begin their bye week.There also might be a quarterback controversy brewing.Ryan Fitzpatrick for 203 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for Houston, but struggled to move the offence for most of the day in a 31-21 loss to Philadelphia.Coach Bill OBrien cautioned against placing too much blame on the journeyman quarterback when asked if he would consider a change at the position to spark the offence.I think we have to evaluate everything, he said. Ive said this all along, I dont think you can look at one position and put all the blame on that.Ryan Mallett joined the Texans after three seasons in New England to back up Fitzpatrick. He raised eyebrows Sunday night with a tweet that he later deleted.Im staying focused for when the time comes ... seize the opportunity #justwaiting, he tweeted from his verified account @Ryan_mallett_15.He was in damage control on Monday morning despite deleting the tweet.Dont misinterpret my last tweet, the tweet said. Im not calling to be the starter. Frustrations of losing. I play my role. I am a team player first. Always.OBrien has applauded his improvement over the past few weeks, but Mallett has almost no game experience despite being in the NFL for four seasons.Hes a guy that works extremely hard in practice, which is totally different than in the game, OBrien said. In practice he seems to have good command of what were doing. Hes come in here with a good knowledge of the offence.Mallett didnt take a single snap in two of his three seasons with the Patriots. He appeared in four games in 2012, but completed just one of four passes for 17 yards with an interception.The 31-year-old Fitzpatrick has learned to ignore outside criticism in a 10-year career spent with five different teams. But hes the first one to admit that he has to improve if the Texans hope to finish the season strong and says week after week that has to play better.Hes going to work extremely hard to play at a more consistent level like all of the players need to do, OBrien said. 4-5 is a very mediocre record and its the sign of an inconsistent team.He has thrown for 1,960 yards with 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions in his first season in Houston. Hes fumbled five times, but has lost just one of them.Andre Johnson, the longest-tenured Texan after joining the team in its second season, was asked if he thinks the offence has improved since the beginning of the season.I dont know, he said. Our record doesnt show it. We just have to take a look at it and get it fixed.OBrien was pointed with his statements that the entire team needs to do more after the break and that extends to the coach and his staff.We talk a lot as a coaching staff with our players that were really all in it together. Theres no finger pointing, OBrien said. Its not one guys fault.A bright spot on the offence this season has been the resurgence of running back Arian Foster after last seasons back surgery. Foster is second in the NFL with 822 yards rushing. But Foster hurt his groin late in Houstons loss to the Eagles and its unclear how serious the problem is.OBrien wouldnt provide any details on the injury to Foster or on cornerbacks Kareem Jackson and Johnathan Joseph, who also left Sundays game with injuries.___Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Harrison Barnes Jersey . It was the quickest three-goal sequence in Olympic history, with the latter two coming just eight seconds apart. Kessel, Lamoureux and Kendall Coyne all scored twice for the Americans, and Molly Schaus made 10 saves in her Sochi debut. Jose Juan Barea Jersey . The Brazilian international goalkeeper was beaten twice in the first 12 minutes of his Reds debut in a 3-1 preseason loss to Columbus Crew in Florida earlier this week. http://www.mavericksteamofficial.info/de...vericks-jersey/. -- Justin Verlander took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and won his fourth straight decision, leading Detroit over the Kansas City Royals 9-4 Sunday and extending the Tigers winning streak to a season-high five games. Josh McRoberts Jersey . -- Antoine Bibeau bought the Val-dOr Foreurs valuable time at the Memorial Cup with his 51-save shutout Friday. Jalen Brunson Jersey . Then again, he really was at his home away from home. "It was nice to sleep in my own bed last night," Shields said after pitching Kansas City past the San Diego Padres 8-0 Wednesday.The Rogers Centre was an incredible facility when it was built and then unveiled in June of 1989. But as the years have gone by, fans look on with envy at the state-of-the-art baseball-only facilities that have been constructed and wonder, why couldnt it have been us? Now comes word the Atlanta Braves are ready to leave Turner Field, their home since 1997, to move into a spanking new $672 million ediface in Cobb County in time for the 2017 season, although no official contract has been signed yet. The Braves owners couldnt come to a new lease agreement to stay at Turner Field so now, with the help of the good taxpayers, Cobb County will get a new 42,000-seat ballpark with all of the amenities. The Braves have only been in Atlanta since 1966. They have played 48 seasons there and overall have been a success story. TBS helped make them Americass team and they had a run over 14 straight years in the post-season (albeit with only one World Series victory). Their attendance has been good, but never spectacular. Going back to 2006, the lowest theyve drawn is 2.37 million in 2009 and 2011. They peaked at 2.75 million in 2007 over that eight-year span. This past season, they drew 2.55 million, virtually the same as the Blue Jays. I guess what Im saying is, there doesnt really seem to be the need for a new baseball stadium in the greater Atlanta area. If this new one is indeed ready by 2017, the Braves will have played in three stadia in 52 years in the same city. If they can do it, and the taxpayers can live with it, more power to them. The Blue Jays are coming up to their 25th full season at Rogers Centre. There is no new home in the forseeable future for the Jays, just natural grass by 2018 or so. It would be great to see the Blue Jays have the kind of ballpark they have in Pittsburgh, San Francisco or Baltimore. But to see Atlanta leaving a facility that was constructed for the 1996 Olympics after just 20 seasons just seems so wrong. Trade Rumours There used to be a time when there seemed to be lull after the World Series until the Winter Meetings in December but no more. With the General Managers Meetings starting Monday in Orlando, baseball talk will be at a fever pitch with free agent signings being negotiated and the groundwork being laid for trades. The Blue Jays top priority is at least one, if not two, starting pitchers, who would fit in as 1-2 or 3s. They also need an upgrade behind the plate and help at second base. There was another interesting rumour that surfaced over the weekend with Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe suggesting the Dodgers were trying to move one of their high-priced outfielders, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and/or Carl Crawford.dddddddddddd Cafardo claimed the Blue Jays were at least exploring the possibility of landing one of the three over concerns that Melky Cabrera would never be the player they thought when they signed him to that two-year deal last year. Though they seemed to have an endless supply of money, the Dodgers apparently want to deal one of these monster contracts to free up the cash to lock up Clayton Kershaw and Hanley Ramirez. It doesnt make any real sense for the Blue Jays to be chasing any of those three, considering the size and duration of their contracts and the health issues of all three over the past couple of seasons. Time Flies Here is an odd coincidence I dug up this week. In their first season, veteran Bill Singer was a highly touted righthander who was expected to lead the expansion staff. Thanks in large part to arm troubles that ultimately ended his career after 1977, Singer went 2-8 with a 6.79 ERA. This past season, the Blue Jays aquired Josh Johnson to be a top-end starter and possible ace. Again thanks to a myriad of physical troubles, Johnson wound up with a record of, you guessed it, 2-8 and a 6.20 ERA. The difference is, Johnson still might be able to land a one-year deal worth $8-10 million on the open market this off-season. I was wondering the other day if we had officially closed the book on the 20th century. That is to say, are there any former Blue Jays still active from the 1999 team? It turns out there are two: Harry Leroy (Roy) Halladay the III and Vernon Michael Wells the III. Halladay was in his first full season with the Jays in 1999, going 8-7 with a 3.92 earned run average. Wells was making his rookie debut in 1999, hit his first Major League homer and knocked in eight runs in 88 at bats. Halladay is a free agent now. He was born May 14th, 1977. On that day the Blue Jays got drilled 13-3 by the Twins at old Metropolitan Stadium. Wells is going into the final year of his contract with the Yankees at $21 million, the bulk of which is still being paid by the Angels. Incidentally, the highest paid Blue Jay in 1999 was current Jays coach Pat Hentgen at $8.6 million. And Shawn Green, who turned 41 on Sunday, was part of that team. How time flies and the times change. ' ' '