of injured reserve this week.His progress has been good, Payton

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has dismissed criticism of Hawthorns trade for Gold Coast youngster Jaeger OMeara, declaring it perfectly legal.OMeara joined the Hawks late on the final day of the AFL trade period in a complicated swap that included Hawthorns first-round pick this year as well as next years second-round selection.Such a move had been thought to be in contravention of the AFLs own rules because the Hawks had already traded out their first-round pick at the 2017 draft in a separate deal with St Kilda.But McLachlan said all clubs had been made fully aware of the new guidelines and rejected any suggestion of confusion or impropriety.I reckon the rules are clear ... the trade was perfectly legal and I dont think theres any grey (area) in that, McLachlan told reporters on Wednesday.If anybody needed any clarification, they spoke to (AFL salary cap executive) Ken Wood during the process and I think they got pretty clear answers.The AFL introduced future draft-pick trading in 2015 as it attempted to make it easier for clubs to get deals done during the trade period.However, strict rules were put in place to safeguard against clubs placing their future drafts in jeopardy in search of short-term success.The Hawks and the Suns remained locked in a stalemate over OMearas value as the trade period deadline approached.The crucial factor in getting the deal done was Hawthorns ability to secure a second-round pick next year in a separate deal with Greater Western Sydney that also included Carlton.The AFL initially announced the Hawks had included that pick in the OMeara deal, which would have broken the rules.It was an administrative error, McLachlan said.They talked about GWS second-round pick next year instead of Hawthorns.I reckon people can be happy that its a clerical error. I think its been a little over-hyped. Rob Gronkowski Youth Jersey . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. Jarrett Stidham Jersey . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. https://www.patriotssportsgoods.com/Womens-Irving-Fryar-Inverted-Jersey/ . Tevez, who has had conflicts with coaches in the past, has not been called up since Sabella was named coach in 2011. Argentina boasts Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Angel Di Maria. Jarrett Stidham Womens Jersey . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. The New Westminster, B.C., native plowed three yards into the end zone for the last score of a heated, see-saw battle between the two teams with the best records in the CFL. Tedy Bruschi Youth Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. METAIRIE, La. -- New Orleans Saints fans have seen this act before, and previously it hasnt ended well for them.The Saints are once again on the verge of climbing back to .500 and into the NFC playoff picture after opening the season with three straight losses.Similar stories played out in 2007, 2012, 2014 and last season after starts of 1/3 or worse. Each time, New Orleans got back to .500 and played well enough to keep its games meaningful into December, but missed the playoffs.Time will tell if this season will be different; coach Sean Payton and his players certainly would like to think it will be. There are some good reasons for optimism based on the way theyve played in their past four games, going 3-1 with the lone loss a close, competitive game at Kansas City.New Orleans has played better defense during that span, and on Sunday in the Superdome, the Saints found balance for their prolific passing offense from an unlikely source in a 25-20 victory against Seattle.Reserve running back Tim Hightower had the first 100-yard rushing game by a New Orleans player this season, finishing with 102 yards on 26 carries.Hightower, who missed the 2012 to 2014 seasons because of injuries, said his experience in resurrecting his career was helpful as he watched the Saints resurgence after the slow start this season.I keep going back to those three years that I was away from football, Hightower said Monday. There was light at the end of the tunnel. We had high hopes going into the season but we didnt start off well. We got on a roll then we got knocked down. When you go through tough times you use some of those parallels.The Saints defense had one of its best performances of the season against Seattle, allowing just one offensive touchdown and withstanding a final drive that ended with an incomplete pass in the end zone on the games final play.At the end of the game we stood up and made plays when we had to, said linebacker Nate Stupar, whose second-quarter interception led to the Saints first touchdown.Seatttle had taken an early 7-0 lead when safety Earl Thomas picked up Mark Ingrams fumble and ran 34 yards for a touchdown.dddddddddddd It was the second critical fumble by Ingram in two weeks and came on what wound up being his final play in the game.Ingrams benching was meant to be more temporary than it was, but lasted the whole game, coach Sean Payton said, because the way Tim was running, he was getting into a pretty good groove.The Seahawks offense never got into a good groove against a New Orleans defense that has methodically improved from No. 31 to No. 28 in the NFL. And that was without key defensive players who could return as early as Sunday when the Saints visit struggling San Francisco. Cornerback Delvin Breaux and defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, the teams rookie No. 1 draft choice, both have practiced recently and Rankins is eligible to come off of injured reserve this week.His progress has been good, Payton said. Well see how practice is day to day and go from there.The defense has allowed fewer than 400 yards in three of the last four games after allowing more than 400 in each of the first three losses.We struggled a little bit against the run at first, but weve really started to jell, Stupar said. Weve really been playing good up front.With Drew Brees continuing to operate one of the perennially elite passing games in the NFL, the improved running game and defense have New Orleans making the kind of comprehensive progress they hoped to see heading into the second half of the season.On offense, weve had pretty good time of possession and done pretty well on third downs and thats helped us, Payton said of the three victories. Conversely, defensively, our numbers in those wins have been good. Our ability up front to hurry the quarterback or apply some pressure to the quarterback has helped as well.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '