Still stinging from a 31-24 home loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the New England Patriots travel across the country to face the woeful San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.And they will do so without Rob Gronkowski.The big tight end, injured by a smashing hit from Seattles Earl Thomas on Sunday night, missed five plays but came back and finished the game, which ended when an attempted fade to him in the end zone was incomplete. He was ruled out of the game against the 49ers on Friday.On Monday a report surfaced he suffered a punctured lung. Then Tuesday another report said it was a bruised sternum.There was no Gronkowski news Wednesday -- except that his brother, Glenn, was re-signed to the practice squad.While all was quiet on that front, it was apparent neither Gronkowski will be on the field when the 7-2 Patriots visit the 1-8 (with eight straight losses) 49ers.Clearly, Rob Gronkowskis absence makes the powerful New England offense weaker. But the injury took focus away from what the Patriots defense did Sunday, which was little as Russell Wilson threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns.Chip Kelly is the coach of the 49ers now, but last year he brought the Philadelphia Eagles to Gillette Stadium and won, scoring 35 points.(Coach Bill Belichick) has been on us about that game, too, defensive captain Devin McCourty said Wednesday. Obviously, we didnt do some things well that game, so we just talked about the importance of, with Chip Kelly being there now, theyll definitely probably go through that game, and things that they gave us trouble with theyll look at and probably go back to.Hes (Belichick) trained us as players I think in really all phases of the game about being prepared for those things, so weve gone through that game a little bit, just watching and seeing how we might get attacked, obviously, not by Philly but by a team coached by Chip Kelly.Asked what his team has to do to calm the fears of anxious Patriots fans about the defense, McCourty said, Its simple. Weve just got to play better -- theres nothing I can say to calm that or anything, weve just got to go out there and play better. I think thats what everyone in the locker room and everyone on the defense wants to go out there and do. Theres nothing to say. Youve just got to go do it.The 49ers are 29th in the NFL in total offense and 30th in passing. But theyre seventh in rushing, with Colin Kaepernick always a threat to take off with the football. And the New England defensive players have been impressed with the way the Niners have moved the ball the last two games -- the third and fourth games with Kaepernick as the starter.I mean, if wed have played well (last week) wed still have something to prove, New England defensive end Chris Long said. Every week we have something to prove. If you have a mindset any different in this league, youre going to get embarrassed because theres good teams every week that you have to play that has weapons. San Francisco certainly has that.The 49ers only win was a 28-0 opening victory over the Los Angeles Rams, who also remain on New Englands schedule. They lost by three points at Arizona last Sunday.Earlier this week, Kelly, the former offensive coordinator at the University of New Hampshire, revealed some extremely important news on his relationship with Belichick.Were Facebook friends, Kelly said. We spend a lot of time online together.He is a good friend. Hes always been very, very kind to me, whether I was at New Hampshire or Oregon or now, when Ive been in the NFL. Very good friend. ... I was just very thankful that he is a friend of mine, and Ive got great respect for him. Excited about the matchup this week and getting a chance to coach against him again.Talking about Kaepernick and the Niners attack Wednesday, Belichick said, They run the ball as much as any team in the league so that sets up their play action and some of the quarterback movement plays that hes good at, as well as their third-down package. He has a good group of skill players to work with. The receivers are good, the tight ends are good, the backs are very good. They can move the ball. Nike Air Max 90 Outlet . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. Cheap Nike Air Max 90 . All of the scoring came in the final 20:04. Lucic scored on a power play at 15:46 of the third period, when he tipped a shot over Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead. https://www.cheapnikeairmax90china.us/ . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. Nike Air Max 90 From China .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. Clearance Nike Air Max 90 . Burris threw two TD passes, including a key 15-yard fourth-quarter strike to Bakari Grant that effectively countered a Toronto comeback bid and led Hamilton to a 33-19 victory. Greater Western Sydney have won the citys most bruising and high-stakes AFL derby by 36 points. Now, coach Leon Cameron has grander plans in mind.GWS were anything but overawed on finals debut, increasing their lead at every break of Saturdays qualifying final against Sydney at ANZ Stadium.The expansion side, in their fifth season, are one win away from reaching the grand final after winning 12.19 (91) to 7.13 (55).The Giants will enjoy a week off before tackling Hawthorn or the Western Bulldogs in a home preliminary final, while the Swans face a SCG knock-out clash next week.Its great - theres a lot of people in there who have had five or six years of just hardship, Cameron said, referring to the clubs early struggles.Part of my job is to look forward to whats happening in 14 days ... because someone will beat us in the prelim final if we do not come with the same attitude.I dont want to be sitting here in 14 days, saying we got carried away with ourselves. We didnt prepare.Anyone will beat anyone on any given day ... Im sure there are going to be more twists and turns over the coming weeks.Cameron admitted his team were in a good spot to push for their first flag after the upset.But in no way do you look at it and say were in the box seat ... you never write off the Hawks; you never write off the Swans, he added.Swans stars Josh Kennedy and Kurt Tippett both passed concussion tests after early hits, while hamstrung young gun Callum Mills played no part in the second half.The undermannned minor premiers rallied and were only two points behind early in the third term, when GWS key forward Jeremy Cameron took control of the pulsating contest.dddddddddddd.There was nothing in it at halftime, Swans coach John Longmire said.Unfortunately, they got hold of us in the second half.The good thing is weve earned the double chance ... we get another crack at it next week.Cameron booted three goals in the space of five minutes to give his side a 21-point lead at three-quarter time.In a low-scoring affair, it was always going to be too big a buffer - much to the dismay of most in the 60,222 crowd.It is the first time the leagues minor premiers have lost their opening final since West Coast in 2006 - although the Eagles battled back to defeat Sydney in the grand final that year.The Giants announced themselves as flag contenders long ago but there remained a question of how a side with 16 finals debutants would handle the heat of September.They started nervously but the answer had come by quarter-time, when GWS held a one-point lead despite conceding the opening two goals of the game.Steve Johnson finished with 22 possessions and five behinds but delivered arguably the turning point of the match when he tried to run through Kennedy in the first term.GWS laid 32 more tackles than the Swans, including a jarring sling tackle from Shane Mumford on Tippett. ' ' '