belt.I feel like were getting good cohesion going, Warford

The Newcastle Jets are keeping their heads up despite their relentless injury problems and a tough three-game A-League losing streak, midfielder Mateo Poljak says.Poljak is a strong contender to become Newcastles stand-in captain for at least the next few weeks after skipper Nigel Boogaard tore ankle ligaments in their 2-1 defeat to Melbourne City on Thursday.Its not yet clear how long Boogaard will be out for, but he was the player the Jets could least afford to lose following injuries to defenders Lachlan Jackson (ankle), Ben Kantarovski (knee) and Daniel Alessi (knee).Poljak, however, is staying positive, writing their injury curse off as bad luck and insisting the Jets are headed in the right direction.Its just unlucky. Fair enough if they were muscular injuries, youd think maybe somethings (gone) wrong, but its more impact and knocks, he told reporters on Tuesday.You cant really do much about it.It doesnt affect morale - obviously wed like to have more players, especially since the majority of them are starting players and leaders as well, but what do you do?I think weve got pretty good depth this year, well cover them.Former Adelaide United and Sydney FC centre-back Iain Fyfe has been training with the Jets since Monday and is likely to sign an injury replacement contract to act as cover for Boogaard, which would alleviate some of coach Mark Jones defensive headaches.Fyfe, now 34, has been playing in the South Australian NPL with Campbelltown City since 2014.I think the recruitment of Fyfey is quite a good thing for us, hes been vocal in the last couple of days, Poljak said.We have a strong leadership group but unfortunately a (because) couple of injuries, theres less and less experienced players.It does come up to a few of us to lead that and help young players and ourselves.The Jets take on Central Coast in the F3 Derby on Sunday at McDonald Jones Stadium. 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Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Dan Orlovsky and Jake Rudock had very similar statistics in the preseason. Orlovsky will begin the season as the Detroit Lions backup quarterback, though, and theres one number that might have been the difference.Orlovsky has 12 years of NFL experience, and thats a dozen more than Rudock, a rookie out of Michigan.Hes certainly one of those guys thats been around, understands the league, understands what he sees from a defensive standpoint, Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. Hes played in games, has experience under his belt. Theres a number of different things. Hes an outstanding leader, just to name a few.Orlovsky got the nod over Rudock even though there was little difference in their preseason performance. Orlovsky was 33-of-56 passing for 338 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Rudock was 30 of 51 for 333 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.We take everything into consideration, practice, games, meetings, Caldwell said. That evaluation is wide and broad, just not a couple different instances.Orlovskys experience was a leg up, but he has also seen enough to know his veteran status wouldnt guarantee the backup job.I dont ever take it for granted, Orlovsky said. I dont ever take it lightly. Its a big responsibility and it means a lot to me. I worked for it but it wasnt like a surprise or anything. It was my expectation level and like I said, getting ready for Week 1 and go about my business.Rudock, a sixth-round draft pick, was cut and then signed to the Lions practice squad, where he can practice without the pressure of having to enter the game if something happens to starter Matthew Stafford.Hell be fine, Orlovsky said of Rudock. What hes done is progress. Thats what you expect and hope him to do is progress. He just needs to continue to do that and take advantage of this year of learning how to do it.ddddddddddddThere is a big difference between preseason and regular season.Now the onus is on the Lions young offensive line to protect Stafford.First-round pick Taylor Decker is at left tackle; Travis Swanson is entering his third season, his second as starting center; left guard Laken Tomlinson has one year of experience; right guard Larry Warford is starting his fourth season; and right tackle Riley Reiff is the true veteran with four seasons under his belt.I feel like were getting good cohesion going, Warford said. Were getting comfortable playing next to each other and Im excited for it. Were still working out kinks, thats going to be an ongoing process. But I feel really good about this line.The five played as a unit during all of training camp and the preseason.They get accustomed to working with one another, Caldwell said. Get a good feel for one another. That takes time. It doesnt happen overnight, it takes time and then you couple that with the fact that some of those guys are going to be seeing some things for the first time.The Lions begin the season next Sunday at Indianapolis.Game notes TE Eric Ebron returned to practice for the first time since injuring his ankle during an intrasquad scrimmage Aug. 6 at Ford Field. C Graham Glasgow and T Corey Robinson also returned to practice. The only player not practicing was LB Jon Bostic (foot). ... The Lions announced the signings of WR Isaac Fruechte and LB Steve Longa to their practice squad. The team now has 10 players on the squad.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '