Harrison Phillips Color Rush Jersey from SADASD's blog

Whether the Chicago Bears‘ tight end can play again after a gruesome injury last season nearly cost him his left leg still is to be determined.

”There has not been a definitive `You can never do this again Lamar Jackson Ravens Jersey ,”’ Miller said.

”That hasn’t been talked about. It’s approach this as you are planning to get back to where I can be myself and play football, and then when that time comes some of that is out of my hands. So, I’m just going to do as much as I can to get to that point and see what happens.”

The Bears placed Miller on the physically unable to perform list on Tuesday, one day after he signed a one-year contract. The deal was at least a goodwill gesture for a popular player who dislocated his knee trying to make a touchdown catch during the Week 8 game at New Orleans. He has undergone nine surgeries since then, but was walking on his own by late December.

Miller has been spending several hours a day at the team’s facility in rehab and meetings. Though he is not yet allowed to run, he can at least play with his children.

He’s also wearing a brace on his leg to hold up a dropped foot that was brought on by nerve damage. The nerve started functioning again in the past month, and Miller ”wanted to have a party” that day.

”I don’t think I’ve ever been mentally defeated – ever,” he said. ”I feel good. I’m happy with where I’m at and with my recovery. I’m happy with the steps that we’ve made. Positivity has been one of my qualities that’s helped get me through all this stuff. I’m in a good place right now.”

He said being around the team, having ”that brotherhood” and people who ”check in on me” helps.

Miller also praised chairman George McCaskey and an organization that has ”taken care of me since Day 1.”

”It’s tough for me to put it into words what it means to me, but very thankful and just grateful to be a part of this family,” he added.

Defensive end Akiem Hicks was glad to see the organization taking care of his teammate.

”That’s what it said to me, that they’re willing to make sure that we’re all right and give us the opportunity to get better and just loyalty,” he said.

Coach Matt Nagy called it ”without a doubt” the ”right thing to do.”

”I was happy for him,” Nagy said. ”We talked along with (general manager Ryan Pace) and it’s a good story and it needed to be done.”

Miller signed a futures contract with the Bears at the end of the 2013 season. After spending 2014 on injured reserve Sonny Gray Jersey , he started 28 of 33 games while making 101 receptions for 1,161 yards and 11 touchdowns the past three years. He also spent three seasons with Jacksonville.

A healthy Miller probably would have a big role on a team that invested heavily on the offense in the offseason in order to get the most out of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.

The Bears hired an offensive-minded coach in Nagy to replace the fired John Fox and overhauled their receiving group, most notably signing Allen Robinson.

They believe bigger things are in store after four straight last-place finishes in the NFC North. And Miller would love to play in Nagy’s offense.

”That’s the bittersweet part of it, seeing first of all how awesome Coach Nagy is, not only as a guy but his football knowledge is unbelievable,” Miller said.

”Very cool, very collected, has a little bit of swagger to him, which is just fun to be around. Then you go to the football field and you look at the scheme that we have. It would be a lot of fun to be a part of. It’s not in the cards quite yet for me to take part in that.

”But as I sit and I watch and I see the weapons that we have and what we’ve added, the dynamic ability that we have as a collective group, positive future here and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

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Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash turned to bench coach Charlie Montoyo early in the game and mentioned how closely Jonathan Loaisiga resembled a former Yankees great and future Hall of Famer.

Cash just hopes this 23-year-old prospect doesn’t develop the same nasty stuff closer Mariano Rivera once featured.

Loaisiga pitched three-hit ball over five impressive innings to win his major league debut, and New York beat the Rays 5-0 on Friday night.

”There were some similarities,” Cash said while mentioning the cutter perfected by baseball’s career saves leader. ”Don’t give him any ideas, though. He doesn’t need to be pitching in the ninth inning anytime soon. Talented young kid. Very poised.”

Didi Gregorius homered off ex-Yankee Nathan Eovaldi Chukwuma Okorafor Color Rush Jersey , and Gary Sanchez broke out of a long slump with a three-run double in the eighth. Giancarlo Stanton had a sacrifice fly for New York, which improved the best record in the majors to 45-20.

Jonathan Holder, David Robertson, Dellin Betances and Adam Warren each worked an inning to finish the four-hitter.

The Rays have lost 17 of their last 21 at Yankee Stadium.

Loaisiga (1-0) was called up from Double-A Trenton to fill in for injured starter Masahiro Tanaka and arrived early in the clubhouse for the World Cup match between Spain and Portugal. At times, Loaisiga demonstrated the same moxie Cristiano Ronaldo showed when lining up a free kick that tied that game 3-all in the late stages.

The right-hander, who walked only four batters in 45 minor league innings this year, struggled a little with his command, issuing four walks while striking out six.

He walked the first batter in the first but escaped with an inning-ending double play. After a one-out walk, he fanned the next two batters.

In the third inning, he once again benefited from a double play.

With two outs in the fourth, the Rays loaded the bases but Loaisiga – the 15th major leaguer from Nicaragua – regrouped and calmed down after a visit from pitching coach Larry Rothschild and struck out Christian Arroyo behind the support of 45,112 roaring fans at Yankee Stadium.

”I think that’s the part of the game you have to learn how to manage,” Loaisiga said.

After returning last year from Tommy John surgery, Loaisiga became the first Yankees starter to win his first career game since Tanaka on April 4 Baltimore Ravens Jerseys Womens , 2014.

New York manager Aaron Boone considered extending Loaisiga past the fifth inning even though he eclipsed 90 pitches for the first time in his professional career – he threw more than 80 in four minor league starts this season. Only once has Loaisiga pitched seven innings, during a Dominican Summer League start in 2013.

But Boone felt fine with the 91-pitch effort he got from the rookie, lauding his confidence.

”I think everyone got a look at the stuff that this kid has and the arm he has and the easy delivery he has,” Boone said. ”I felt like mentally, emotionally, he’s equipped to handle this.”

Pitching against his former team, Eovaldi (1-2) allowed only two runs over the first seven innings until the Yankees chased him in the eighth. He was charged with five runs and eight hits in 7 1/3 innings during his first career outing against New York. He struck out five and walked one.

It was Eovaldi’s fourth outing since coming back from a second Tommy John surgery. The right-hander pitched for the Yankees from 2015-16, going 14-3 in 2015.

With one out in the eighth, Eovaldi gave up consecutive singles to Aaron Judge and Gregorius before issuing an intentional walk to Stanton. Johnny Venters struck out Greg Bird before Sanchez’s bases-loaded line drive to right field skipped past a diving Johnny Field to make it 5-0.

Sanchez, who began the night with just six hits in his past 60 at-bats, hopes that will spark him going forward.

”I did feel good being that I had a long time that I wasn’t contributing to the team batting like that, bringing in runs and getting on base with hits,” he said.

LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE

The Yankees traded RHP Chad Whitmer to Milwaukee for $59,000 in international signing bonus pool money. That raises New York’s available total to $5 Harrison Phillips Color Rush Jersey ,061,000 for the signing period that starts July 2. The 23-year-old Whitmer, a 10th-round pick in the 2017 draft, went 3-0 with a 3.79 ERA for the Gulf Coast Yankees last season in rookie ball.

SKIPPING LEVELS

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Loaisiga became the first Yankees player to make his major league debut without appearing in a Triple-A game since INF Ramiro Pena on April 6, 2009, at Boston. The last Yankees pitcher to accomplish the feat was Chase Wright on April 17, 2007, against Cleveland

UP NEXT

Yankees ace Luis Severino (9-2, 2.27 ERA) tries Saturday to improve to 6-0 at home this season. Tampa Bay is expected to open with right-handed reliever Ryne Stanek on another ”bullpen day.”

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