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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots seemed set for years at tight end with their young, record-breaking combination. Aaron Hernandez ran around defenders after catching the ball. Rob Gronkowski ran over them. Tight end was one position coach Bill Belichick could rely on. Not anymore. The Patriots cut Hernandez a few hours after he was arrested Wednesday. Later that day, he pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in connection with the death of an acquaintance, Odin Lloyd, who, prosecutors said, was shot to death on June 17. On June 18, Gronkowski underwent back surgery. He already had four operations on the left forearm he broke last November and may not be ready for the start of the season. Tim Tebow might be. Theres a widespread feeling that the polarizing quarterback signed by the Patriots on June 11 cant play that position in the NFL. Tight end might be a different story. "I thought if he was going to play in the National Football League, his position was going to be that of a tight end, H-back-type," NFL draft consultant and former Dallas Cowboys vice-president of player personnel Gil Brandt said. At 6-foot-3 and 236 pounds, Tebow has the size for the position, although he played only quarterback during the Patriots three-day minicamp, which began the day he signed. A strong, shifty runner, he could be successful catching quick-out passes from Tom Brady and taking off downfield. The speed and vertical jump he showed at the NFL combine before being drafted by the Denver Broncos in 2010 also are impressive, Brandt said. "Id like to have Tebow waiting in the wings to do something because past history says he can do it," Brandt said. "Coming out of Florida, I thought he was a quarterback. I dont think he is now." Belichick was his usual uninformative self when Tebow signed when he was asked where the newcomer fits in. "I dont know," he said. "Well see." Brady already was working with a revamped group of wide receivers after losing his top two pass catchers. Wes Welker had 118 receptions last season, then signed with Denver. Brandon Lloyd had 74, then was released. The turnover is so thorough that the Patriots may open the season without Bradys top seven targets from last season. Five are no longer with the team and two -- Gronkowski and wide receiver Julian Edelman -- may not be healthy enough. Of the 402 passes caught by the Patriots last season, the recipients of only 101 remain. And that includes Gronkowskis 55. In the off-season, the Patriots signed free agent wide receivers Danny Amendola, Michael Jenkins, Donald Jones and Lavelle Hawkins and drafted Aaron Dobson from Marshall and Josh Boyce from TCU to compete at that position. "It takes a lot of time" to develop chemistry between a quarterback and his receivers, Brady said after the last minicamp practice on June 12. "Guys have been working pretty hard. Weve been here the whole off-season to try to get up to speed." Now he has to do that with his tight ends. In 2011, Hernandez and Gronkowski set NFL records for tight ends on one team with 169 catches, 2,237 yards receiving and 24 touchdown receptions. The old record for touchdown catches? Hernandez, Gronkowski and Alge Crumpler set that in 2010 with 18 for New England. Now the Patriots have just two healthy tight ends who caught passes for them last season -- Michael Hoomanawanui with five and Daniel Fells with four. Jake Ballard, the former New York Giant who spent all last season on injured reserve with the Patriots, could play a bigger role than either of them if hes healthy. They also have rookie free agents Zach Sudfeld and Brandon Ford. The crop of free agent tight ends is meagre -- Dallas Clark, Chris Cooley, Kevin Boss, Randy McMichael and former Patriots David Thomas and Visanthe Shiancoe. "I dont think Clark can stay healthy anymore. Hes 34," Brandt said. "The guy Shiancoe, they cut him last year so there really doesnt, on the surface, seem like theres any tight ends out there." He likes Ballard -- "not the fastest guy in the world, but he knows how to catch the ball and hes a pretty good blocker." Still, thats a steep drop from Hernandez, who had 175 catches for 1,956 and 18 touchdowns in the three seasons since the Patriots drafted him in 2010 in the fourth round, where he dropped because of character issues. They chose Gronkowski in the second round that year and he has 187 receptions for 2,663 yards and 38 touchdowns, plus one touchdown on the ground. They played together in just five games last year. Hernandez missed six of the first 10 with a sprained right ankle, but still had 51 receptions. Then, Gronkowski sat out the next five with a broken left forearm before returning for limited action in the regular-season finale. "The reason they were so successful is because it was such a matchup problem" when both were on the field, Brandt said. Hernandez wont be there when the Patriots start the season in Buffalo on Sept. 8. Gronkowski might not, either. But Tebow could be. When he joined the Patriots this month, he was greeted by the tight end he threw to at Florida. "How you doing, Tim?" Hernandez recalled saying. He didnt know how Tebow would be used. That would be up to Belichick. "Im just worried about doing my job," Hernandez said, "and keep playing football." Wholesale Custom Jerseys Authentic . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. Cheap Custom Jerseys . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. http://www.jerseyscustom.us/ . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. Custom Arizona Cardinals Jerseys .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. Custom Jerseys From China .C. United of Major League Soccer. United chose the defender in the second round of the 2013 MLS re-entry draft.In his weekly column, Sky Sports Spanish football expert Guillem Balague reflects on the major talking point from the weekends La Liga action - Barcelona’s audacious Cruyff penalty against Celta Vigo - and answers your questions on Cristiano Ronaldo, Gary Neville and Paul Pogba... Hands down, Barcelonas victory over Celta Vigo was the La Liga game to watch this weekend.In the first half, Celta went on a man-marking mission all over the pitch and, with some clever movement, they were able to create one versus one across the pitch. That was very brave and was implemented very well in the first half, but it was impossible to maintain for 90 minutes. Genius or disrespectful? Managers, players and pundits weigh in on the debate A lot of people, including myself, acknowledged the bravery of the Celta coaches but in the end the result was what it was - a heavy 6-1 defeat. In the second half, Barca were more aggressive without the ball, they moved the ball quicker and there were forward runners that made a big difference.As is the case with all of Europes top teams at the moment, Barcelona smell the Champions League approaching and are continuing to improve their performances. Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo, for instance, were domineering against Athletic Bilbao. Watch the penalty that became the main talking point this weekend in La Liga Barca stepped up a gear when it was needed against Celta. Ivan Rakitic, and even Aleix Vidal, provided fresh legs from the bench and that told against a tiring visiting side. It was wonderful to see the synergy of Barcas front three once again, particularly for the penalty.For most fans stats mean a lot. The same can be said for the spearhead of the Barca attack, Lionel Messi, who knows he can score his 300th La Liga goal at any time. Apparently Barca had been mulling over whether to carry out the penalty routine for weeks, with Neymar the original recipient from Messis pass. However, it was Luis Suarez who appeared instead, knowing that it could happen, and he finished it off. Terry Gibson discusses if Barcelonas Cruyff penalty was disrespectful Straight away the debate in Spain started: was it disrespectful or not? Football, especially in England, is made up of controversies and personalities, whereas in Spain its tactics and personalities, with controversies only recently growing into the game.Those characteristics didnt bring any of us into football, instead it was moments of magic and Barcas penalty will have evoked memories of John Cruyffs penalty from 1982 - a moment which is historic in football and is not viewed as disrespectful in any way. Robert Pires and Thierry Henry famously tried and failed with a similar penalty You can defend Barcelona by saying that they have missed a few penalties this season so this was an opportunity to make sure the goal went in. Of course, you need the ability and the confidence to do it and, as weve seen in the past, Robert Pires and Thierry Henry werent able to pull it off.dddddddddddd Luis Enrique remarked that if he had tried something similar he would have collapsed!Its worth noting that in order for a team to pull this off there needs to be a positive mind-set, and you could see from the Barca players laughing afterwards that they clearly enjoyed the goal. Would they have done it if it was 1-1, or if they were trailing? Maybe not. If that is the case then why did they feel the need to do it at all? My response to that would be: why not! Luis Suarez celebrates with Lionel Messi after the penalty routine It wasnt just anybody who carried the move out, it was Messi, a player who doesnt go an inch further than he needs to. Everything he does is because it is needed. He also seemed to really enjoy himself in the process. Its moments like these which make us fall in love with football, things we will all remember and moments that will be referred to in the future.Most of the discontent comes from Madrid. It is a media strategy to please the Madrid fans who want to hear that, it has nothing to do with people thinking about football and is more to do with the business side of things - ie selling newspapers. What if Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema attempted the Cruyff penalty? To those who claim that this was out of order, and wouldnt like to see this in football, then I implore you to go and find another game because I wish there were more moments like this!There are times where players do disrespectful things - tactical gestures or skills - when the game is over but that goal doesnt fall into that bracket for me. What would the opinion be if Ronaldo and Karim Benzema or Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney tried something similar? Everyone is talking about this goal so, for me, that must be for a good reason.Guillem answers your questionsRonaldo was brilliant for Real yesterday. Was his performance - and goal celebration - him making a point? @unitedfan82 Ronaldo was in scintillating form against Bilbao on Saturday Yes, Ronaldo was brilliant. That is what we want from him all the time so when I criticise him it is because I want that all of the time. If we dont get performances of that ilk from Ronaldo I find it difficult to class him among the best players in the world. If he just does every now and again, or against smaller sides, that is not good enough. Yes, he is a great goalscorer but he has got to show it in the big games to show he is one of the greatest players. Lets see if he can continue at that pace because it was brilliant to see.Are Barca seriously interested in Riyad Mahrez to improve their attack? They seem to have a perfect squad - is there anywhere you think they could strengthen? @Shantanu3196Barcelona are not thinking about Mahrez.Are Barca definitely out of the running for Paul Pogba? Id love to see him at City! @bluemoonboy Paul Pogba is vying for a move to Barcelona, but where will he end up? Interestingly, Pogba seems to be vying for a move to Barcelona but they dont have the money that Manchester City, United or Real Madrid are prepared to put on the table. For that reason its difficult to say anything definitive, except for the fact those four clubs are interested.Whats the possibility of Manuel Pellegrini being Valencias manager next season? @ExciteableExpertPellegrini is leaving his options open and so are Valencia so no decision has been made as to Pellegrinis future or Valencias next manager.Can you see Gary Neville working with Mourinho at Old Trafford? @SidKGenuis Gary Neville and Valencia are both undecided on their next steps, says Guillem Has Jose Mourinho signed for Manchester United? I must have missed that! As for Neville, he has stated publicly that he doesnt want to be an assistant or a coach for long so I dont expect him to be at Valencia beyond the summer. It has been a learning curve for him at Valencia and, when or if he does leave, he has a big decision to make as to what to do. In any case, he has had a great experience there. Also See: Get Sky Sports La Liga video Fixtures Table Revista de la Liga Guillem Balague ' ' '