Dein erstes Forum » With Gronk’s status still up in the air

and Dwayne Allen gone Tyrell Williams Jersey , the Patriots need to make other plans at tight end. And they apparently are.Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports that the Patriots “aggressively courted” Jared Cook before he chose the Saints.Cook, 31, is actually older than Gronkowski, and Cook entered the league a year before Gronk. Cook’s best season ever came in 2018, when he caught 68 passes for 896 yards and six touchdowns for a Raiders offense that didn’t have a whole lot around him.Gronkowski caught 47 passes for 682 yards and three touchdowns in 2018, his worst season featuring more than eight games played since his rookie year. But he came on strong in the postseason, helping the Patriots to another Super Bowl win.Although the Patriots typically like to have two quality pass-catching tight ends if they can, the decision to pursue Cook before getting a decision on retirement from Gronk raises an important question regarding Gronk’s future: Do the Patriots still want him? Given what he can do if healthy in the postseason, they should. Given his production in the regular season, he could be moving toward the territory in which coach Bill Belichick has a reputation for moving on one year too early instead of one year too late.And it still may not be too late to get Cook. Despite multiple reports that a deal is close and comments from Cook talking about catching passes from Saints quarterback Drew Brees, Cook still hasn’t officially signed with the Saints. Until he does Trent Brown Jersey , Cook remains potentially in play. COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — The Chargers had struggled with their pass rush and keeping opponents out of the end zone in their first four games.But Los Angeles is hoping that Sunday’s 26-10 victory over Oakland signals a change for the rest of the season.The Chargers sacked the Raiders’ Derek Carr three times and allowed only one touchdown. They had allowed the fifth-most points in the league and were ranked in the bottom half of the league in sacks and quarterback pressures after the first quarter of the season.“A game like that should give them a lot of confidence. Our defense is getting better,” coach Anthony Lynn said Monday.The Chargers (3-2) have not been at full strength defensively all season, but they are starting to get some valuable players back. Defensive tackle Corey Liuget returned from his four-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance enhancers, which helped free up the number of times that Melvin Ingram was double-teamed.Ingram, who struggled during the first three games, has played better in the past two. Ingram tied for the team lead in tackles with seven along with a sack and his first regular-season interception.Philip Rivers and the offense converted both Raiders’ turnovers into touchdowns.“If we can create turnovers and get our offense the ball, we got one of the most high-powered offenses in this league, so we are trying to get them the ball every time we can,” Ingram said.Another reason for the Chargers’ success against the Raiders was that they were stingy on third down. They came into the Oakland game allowing the fourth-highest conversion rate on third down (46.8 percent), but the Raiders converted just one of six during the first half and four of 11 for the game.One area where the Chargers have done well the first five weeks is stopping the run. Oakland’s Marshawn Lynch came into the game fourth in the league in rushing Justin Ellis Jersey , but was held to 31 yards on nine carries.Los Angeles has allowed only 100-yard rusher all season (the Rams’ Todd Gurley) despite also facing Kansas City’s Kareem Hunt, Buffalo’s LeSean McCoy and San Francisco’s Matt Breida. Six running backs went over the century mark against the Chargers last season, including Hunt twice.They will face a big challenge this week against Cleveland (2-2-1), which is No. 2 in the league in rushing offense with Carlos Hyde, Nick Chubb and mobile quarterback Baker Mayfield.Lynn said that defensive end Joey Bosa, who has missed all five games because of a foot injury, could practice this week in a limited capacity. Even if Bosa isn’t back until after the Oct. 28 bye week, Lynn is seeing his unit make more progress in making plays without Bosa.“We’re starting to get more comfortable with the different schemes we are doing,” Lynn said. “We are doing some different things with coverages and also bringing different people on blitzes.”NOTES: Lynn said that Caleb Sturgis will be the kicker against the Browns despite missing his fourth extra point on Sunday. Sturgis is likely to remain the kicker for at least two more games, but needs to gain consistency if he is going to keep his job. … Right tackle Joe Barksdale could return to practice this week but will be limited. Barksdale has missed the past four games after suffering a knee injury in the Sept. 9 opener against Kansas City.