Local ties

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As spread offenses permeate the college football world, finding an impact professional tight end prospect sounds like a challenge.
Lions still roadkill
If there seemed to be any chance of the Detroit Lions breaking their three-year-plus road losing streak, it should have happened Sunday.
Local ties
There is another local tie to last weekend's biggest highlight. Jacksonville wide receiver Mike Thomas, who caught the deflected Hail Mary pass that led the Jaguars to a 31-24 win over Houston, was born in Bossier City on June 4,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 1987. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
The Shreveport-Bossier City area has produced its share of NFL luminaries from Terry Bradshaw to Joe Ferguson and others.

"I think they give us some flexibility to do different things — we can use them both in the passing game, use them in the running game, same thing with Alge (Crumpler)," Patriots coach Bill Belichick told The Boston Globe. "We have different combinations of them, but in the end, they all have some degree of production in each phase of the game."
Detroit tries to avoid stretching its streak to 26 games Sunday when it faces Dallas at Cowboys Stadium. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
Jason Pugh's NFL Notes: Tight ends return in force
Just a year after tight ends set league single-season position marks for most catches (2,249) and yardage (24,659) they are on pace to do it again. Through Week 10, tight ends have caught 1,307 passes for 14,798 yards. Those numbers put them on pace for 2,323 catches and 26,307 yards.
Several young tight ends have emerged in the first 10 weeks of the season, preparing to take the torch from Atlanta's Tony Gonzalez and San Diego's [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] when their All-Pro careers come to an end.
Thomas' parents, Faye and Michael Thomas, are graduates of ULM.
"I was brought here for many reasons, and this was on my mind," first-year Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson told the Detroit Free-Press. "This is definitely one I want to check off as soon as possible, just so we can forget about it."
New England has a pair of rookies who have given quarterback Tom Brady two more weapons — Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. Gronkowski has caught six touchdown passes, already a club rookie record. Hernandez' 34 catches are four shy of another franchise mark.
The Lions were playing winless Buffalo, a team that was allowing a league-worst 29.1 points per game. The Lions, however, managed only 12 points as Buffalo earned win No. 1 in 2010 and sent Detroit to its NFL-record 25th straight road loss. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
"When you look around the league, every team has a guy at that position that can make a play," [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] said. "Just to see how far the position has evolved since tight ends were predominantly there to block is incredible."
The weight of the streak is weighing on some of the Lions, even the newest acquisitions.
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych] and Gonzalez, who have owned Pro Bowl positions for much of the past decade, haven't exactly shied from the limelight. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] is tied for the NFL lead with nine touchdown catches. The Chargers have seven games left, giving the former Kent State basketball standout a chance to top his NFL tight end record of 13, which he set in 2004 and Vernon Davis tied last season.