Fussball » n.The Pistons won those first seven games after wa

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- For a guy who loves to talk on the field, New Englands Aqib Talib sure has been quiet lately. The Patriots cornerback injured his hip in the Patriots win against New Orleans on Oct. 13 and missed the next three games. He hadnt spoken after practice until Thursday, when he said hes eager to return to the field Monday night for New Englands game against the Carolina Panthers. "Im practicing good," Talib said, with a wide grin. "Day to day. Trying to get back." Fresh off the Patriots bye last week, Talib was a limited participant in Thursdays practice. Thats the same designation hes had for a while, and he said watching his teammates play without him was "the worst thing in the world." Coach Bill Belichick was more candid than usual when asked about the player who leads the team with four interceptions and whos been solely responsible for shutting down some of the leagues elite pass catchers. "Hes continued to progress. Well keep doing, as they can tolerate it, do more and evaluate how they do at a little bit higher level," Belichick said. "Then if that goes well, then ramp it up and see where we are as we go through the week." New Englands secondary withstood the absence of its top playmaker, going 2-1 during the stretch. The Patriots (7-2) could benefit from his return against the Panthers (6-3), who have won five straight games and scored 30 or more points in five of their past seven. "Unbelievable player, happy to have him on the field with us," said defensive end Rob Ninkovich. "I think the guys that stepped in when he was gone, they did a great job, but having him back is just going to help us as far as have more depth and keep guys rolling." Should Talib return for New Englands only Monday night game this season, he likely will be matched up with one of the most successful receivers of the past decade in Steve Smith. Talib, who spent his first four-plus seasons playing in the NFC South with Tampa Bay, is familiar with the flashy veteran. "He brings it every Sunday or Monday or whenever the game is," Talib said. "I think if youre competitive like that, youre going to be pretty successful." Smith has tallied more than 800 receptions and 11,000 yards in his career, and has a team-high 42 catches for 450 yards and three touchdowns this season. Talib knows exactly what to expect from Smith -- his best effort and a lot of chatter. "Youve got a lot of guys who do a lot of talking to (the media), and we get out there and they dont say too much on the field," Talib said. "But Steve is definitely one of those guys, hes going to do it on the field." Not unlike Talib. "Yeah," he said with a smile, "I say a couple words." Shadowing the oppositions top threat is becoming commonplace for Talib. Julio Jones was near the top of the league in every major category when Talib held him to a season-low six catches. He caught just three of his first 10 for 22 yards. The following week, Talibs talents helped limit Cincinnatis A.J. Green to five catches for 61 yards. Green now leads the league in yards and ranks second in receptions. And still to come was his premier performance, spearheading an effort to shut down New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham, who tops all receivers with 10 touchdowns but was held without a catch against New England for the first time in a span of 46 games. Belichick went so far as to compare Talib to former Patriots cornerback Ty Law. "Maybe Ty would be similar in that he was a good corner and you could put him on a lot of players and not maybe feel like you need to give him a lot of help," he said. "I think Talib is a guy that we have a lot of confidence in and probably would treat his matchups a little bit differently than weve treated some other ones in the past." Walker Buehler Jersey . 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Co-owned and trained by David Menary, Hes Watching will be driven by Tim Tetrick and is the 5-1 fourth selection in the field.AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Josh Smith was booed when he went to the scorers table to check in, booed when he touched the ball and booed again when he went to the line to shoot free throws.Just over a month after Detroit waived the high-priced forward, Pistons fans gave him an unfriendly welcome when he returned to the Palace on Saturday night as a member of the Houston Rockets. Detroit beat Houston 114-101.Smith, who spent nine seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, was with the Pistons for less than a season and a half. He said the boos didnt bother him too much.That wasnt emotional to me, because I wasnt here long enough to feel any kind of way about it, Smith said. If that happened in Atlanta, it would be tougher for me, but it didnt affect me at all.Smith said before the game he had no ill will toward his former team, which went on a seven-game winning streak immediately after cutting him.I still have friends on this team, where we hung out and we had fun times and fun memories together, Smith said. I have no hard feelings. When they went on that winning streak, I knew the process and the hard work that we had to put in right after Labor Day weekend, all the way into training camp — it was finally kind of paying off.Detroit cut Smith loose in late December. The Pistons started playing well after his departure, and Smith caught on with one of the leagues best teams and is contriibuting.ddddddddddddI kind of sat back and looked at it, and I saw it as being a blessing, Smith said. I had an opportunity now to play for a contender and really try to do something special this season.The Pistons won those first seven games after waiving Smith, but Brandon Jennings ruptured his left Achilles tendon last weekend, and Detroit began struggling again.Smith, meanwhile, has for the most part come off the bench for the Rockets. His scoring is down, but his shooting percentage has improved.Ive enjoyed Josh. Working with him has been great. In our system, we try to get him to do things that we think he does real well, Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. Have him drive, have him play-make, have him kick out, get defensive rebounds, push it down the floor.When the Pistons cut Smith, coach Stan Van Gundy wanted to adjust the offence, and he said it may not have been fair to Smith to reduce his role at this point in his career.Smith has looked and sounded comfortable with the idea of being a reserve, but Van Gundy said that doesnt mean a move like that would have helped the Pistons much.Hes in a totally different situation with a totally different team in a totally different role. The people around him are not even similar, Van Gundy said. How he would have played here probably wouldnt have changed a lot. Just, he would have been coming off the bench. ' ' '