Soo Choo, on the disabled list since Aug. 1

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Under Bill Belichick the New England Patriots have, in many ways, mastered the art of getting headlining performances out of understudies.Hell have to pull off his magic again if the Patriots are going to keep their early season momentum.New England improved to 21-1 at home against the AFC East since 2009 with its 31-24 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. But it also left with yet another quarterback issue to resolve after Jimmy Garoppolo had a Tom Brady-light performance halted by a right shoulder injury.Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins find themselves at 0-2 under first-year coach Adam Gase, despite discovering some late-game traction on offense that had been missing in their season-opening loss at Seattle.Garoppolo threw for three touchdowns in three drives before being driven hard into the ground by linebacker Kiko Alonso on a second-quarter pass play. The injury looked bad, with Garoppolo barely able to move his shoulder as he walked off the field.This game is a 100 percent injury rate, receiver Julian Edelman said. Its football and everyones just gotta do their job a little bit better.The Patriots have yet to say much about Garoppolos injury, but its possible the final two starts before Brady returns from his Deflategate suspension could fall to rookie Jacoby Brissett. Theyll have to figure it out in a hurry before Thursday nights matchup with the Texans.Other observations from Dolphins-Patriots:RESILIENT DOLPHINS: The Dolphins dug out of a 31-3 hole with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. They had a chance to tie in the closing seconds before Ryan Tannehill was intercepted in the end zone.Tannehill , 0-5 against the Patriots in Foxborough, believed they can build on that this week as they head home to host Cleveland after two road losses.He said it starts with not overthinking things.Just make the plays that are there, Tannehill said. We had some opportunities. ... We just have to make those plays early in the game and I have confidence in those guys that we will get it done.HISTORICAL REFERENCE: New England last had to make an injury-related adjustment at quarterback in 2008 when Brady suffered a knee injury in the Patriots opener. With backup Matt Cassel, the Patriots went 11-5, but failed to make the playoffs.The downtime without Brady this time will be much shorter, but the mindset for the Patriots is pretty much the same as it was then. Edelman said the same work put in getting on the same page with Garoppolo must now transfer to Brissett.Its always frustrating to lose any player on any position. Unfortunately thats part of this game, Edelman said.BRISSETTS CONFIDENCE: Brissett didnt seem consumed by the moment with Garoppolo going down.After the defense forced a fumble, he led New England on its final scoring drive, a five-play, 68-yard series that gave the Patriots a 31-10 cushion.The guys did a good job of staying calm, he said. When the opportunity comes, you gotta be ready for it.STARTING SLOWLY: The Dolphins limited New England to a single second-half touchdown, which probably had a lot to do with Garoppolo getting knocked out of the game. But that doesnt fully explain why the Miami offense started clicking after halftime -- a little too late.After getting two first downs and 34 net yards on five possessions that ended in four punts and a fumble, the Dolphins began to move at the same time the Patriots began to struggle. A 77-yard drive led to a field goal at the end of the second quarter, and Miami also drove to touchdowns on three straight possessions in the second half.I need to figure out a way to get our guys in rhythm earlier, Gase said. The second half of us being able to get up on the ball and go, get completions and run the ball, those types of things . thats what we need to do in the first half.RETURNING RECEIVER: The return of DeVante Parker gave the Dolphins offense a boost. The Miami receiver made his 2016 debut after missing the opener with a hamstring injury. Parker caught eight passes for 106 yards against the Patriots.DeVantes a great football player, Tannehill said. You see some of the plays he made -- the one handed catch on the takeoff -- so were just scratching the surface with him. Hes going to be a big-time player for us. We just have to keep him healthy and on the field.Parker had five catches for 106 yards and a touchdown in a season-ending victory over New England on Jan. 3.---Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower Cheap Stars Jerseys . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap Dallas Stars Jerseys . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs tonight at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. http://www.cheapstarsjerseys.com/ . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. Cheap Adidas Stars Jerseys . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Wholesale Stars Jerseys . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. ARLINGTON, Texas -- The way the Texas Rangers are hitting, they can win even when their best starting pitcher struggles.Texas rallied from a four-run deficit on Friday night to beat the Oakland Athletics 7-6 on Jonathan Lucroys two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.The Rangers reduced their magic number for clinching the AL West to six after Seattles 6-0 loss to Houston.Lucroy hit a ground ball inside third base to drive in pinch-runners Delino DeShields and Joey Gallo, who had stolen second base when Rougned Odor struck out. Carlos Beltrans one-out double began the winning rally.I had the big hit, Lucroy said. Look, I was 1 for 5 and I came up to hit with runners in scoring position. I was able to sneak one past the third baseman.Ryan Madson (5-6) had his seventh blown save in 37 chances. He faced five batters, all averaging .280 or better.As far as the depth of the lineup and the guys on the bench too, theyre as good as there is in the league, especially with the additions theyve made, Oakland manager Bob Melvin said.The in-season additions included Beltran and Lucroy.(Madson) strikes out Odor, whos a great hitter in big situations, Melvin said. There were runners on base, but once he got Odor, I thought we were going to win the game.Sam Dyson (2-2), the Rangers fourth pitcher, got the win.Oakland built a 6-2 lead against Cole Hamels on home runs by Khris Davis and Brett Eibner, who drove in four runs.Davis homer was his 38th of the season, his eighth in 14 games against Texas and his third against Hamels in only seven at-bats.Hamels allowed six earned runs in six innings. In his last four starts, hes 0-1 with a 10.50 ERA in 18 innings pitched.Hamels walked three batters. His 75 walks are the most in the Americcan League this season.dddddddddddd He has allowed more than three earned runs in three of his last four starts.The story of the night is not Cole Hamels, Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. The story of the night is that he needed our offense today, and they delivered.Texas came back with two runs in the sixth on Adrian Beltres double and a run-scoring single by Mitch Moreland. Carlos Gomez, another in-season acquisition, led off the seventh with a homer.It was the Rangers seventh walk-off win this season, and Lucroys fifth career game-ending hit. The Rangers lead the major leagues with a franchise-record eight wins when trailing after eight innings.TRAINERS ROOMRangers: RF Shin-Soo Choo, on the disabled list since Aug. 16 with a broken left forearm, will begin swinging a bat, but no date has been established for his return. ... RHP Tony Barnette (strained left oblique) is not expected to pitch until the final week of the season.ERASING A RUNTexas had a run taken off the scoreboard in the third inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Ian Desmond hit a slow grounder to shortstop Marcus Semien. Desmond reached first base as Mitch Moreland crossed home plate. However, Desmond was called out because Carlos Gomez slid wide of second base to hit second baseman Joey Wendle.BELTRAN PASSES GEHRIGCarlos Beltrans two doubles gave him 535 for his career, passing Lou Gehrig for 38th in major league history.UP NEXTAthletics: Rookie RHP Raul Alcantara (0-1, 7.27) will start the second game of the three-game series on Saturday.Rangers: RHP Yu Darvish (5-4, 3.28) is scheduled to pitch for Texas Saturday on seven days rest. ' ' '