FOXBOROUGH, Mass. Steve Carlton Jersey . -- For a guy who loves to talk on the field, New Englands Aqib Talib sure has been quiet lately. The Patriots cornerback injured his hip in the Patriots win against New Orleans on Oct. 13 and missed the next three games. He hadnt spoken after practice until Thursday, when he said hes eager to return to the field Monday night for New Englands game against the Carolina Panthers. "Im practicing good," Talib said, with a wide grin. "Day to day. Trying to get back." Fresh off the Patriots bye last week, Talib was a limited participant in Thursdays practice. Thats the same designation hes had for a while, and he said watching his teammates play without him was "the worst thing in the world." Coach Bill Belichick was more candid than usual when asked about the player who leads the team with four interceptions and whos been solely responsible for shutting down some of the leagues elite pass catchers. "Hes continued to progress. Well keep doing, as they can tolerate it, do more and evaluate how they do at a little bit higher level," Belichick said. "Then if that goes well, then ramp it up and see where we are as we go through the week." New Englands secondary withstood the absence of its top playmaker, going 2-1 during the stretch. The Patriots (7-2) could benefit from his return against the Panthers (6-3), who have won five straight games and scored 30 or more points in five of their past seven. "Unbelievable player, happy to have him on the field with us," said defensive end Rob Ninkovich. "I think the guys that stepped in when he was gone, they did a great job, but having him back is just going to help us as far as have more depth and keep guys rolling." Should Talib return for New Englands only Monday night game this season, he likely will be matched up with one of the most successful receivers of the past decade in Steve Smith. Talib, who spent his first four-plus seasons playing in the NFC South with Tampa Bay, is familiar with the flashy veteran. "He brings it every Sunday or Monday or whenever the game is," Talib said. "I think if youre competitive like that, youre going to be pretty successful." Smith has tallied more than 800 receptions and 11,000 yards in his career, and has a team-high 42 catches for 450 yards and three touchdowns this season. Talib knows exactly what to expect from Smith -- his best effort and a lot of chatter. "Youve got a lot of guys who do a lot of talking to (the media), and we get out there and they dont say too much on the field," Talib said. "But Steve is definitely one of those guys, hes going to do it on the field." Not unlike Talib. "Yeah," he said with a smile, "I say a couple words." Shadowing the oppositions top threat is becoming commonplace for Talib. Julio Jones was near the top of the league in every major category when Talib held him to a season-low six catches. He caught just three of his first 10 for 22 yards. The following week, Talibs talents helped limit Cincinnatis A.J. Green to five catches for 61 yards. Green now leads the league in yards and ranks second in receptions. And still to come was his premier performance, spearheading an effort to shut down New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham, who tops all receivers with 10 touchdowns but was held without a catch against New England for the first time in a span of 46 games. Belichick went so far as to compare Talib to former Patriots cornerback Ty Law. "Maybe Ty would be similar in that he was a good corner and you could put him on a lot of players and not maybe feel like you need to give him a lot of help," he said. "I think Talib is a guy that we have a lot of confidence in and probably would treat his matchups a little bit differently than weve treated some other ones in the past." Tim McCarver Jersey .com) - Even-money favorite Liams Map proved a little too tough down the stretch and won Saturdays $100,000 Harlans Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Robin Roberts Jersey . Basketball fans around the globe will be watching as Kobe Bryant makes his season debut - 240 days after tearing his left Achilles - against Toronto, a team he has used as his own personal punching bag. http://www.philliesbaseballproshop.com/juan-samuel-phillies-jersey/ . THE MICHAEL JORDAN FLU GAME First this famous basketball moment. The story goes like this. “Game 5, known as "The Flu Game", was one of Michael Jordans most memorable.Carey Price returns to action tonight after missing two games with an upper-body injury, as the Montreal Canadiens welcome the Nashville Predators to the Bell Centre. Listen to all the action unfold on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal beginning at 6pm et. Montreal (28-13-3) is among the NHLs best defensive teams with 2.36 goals allowed per game, and Price was 23-10-2 with a 2.19 GAA before getting injured against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 14. In Prices absence, the Canadiens fell 4-1 in Ottawa on Thursday and topped the visiting New York Islanders 6-4 on Saturday. Tomas Plekanec had two goals and two assists as Montreal avoided a season-high third consecutive home defeat and matched its best scoring output of the season. We wanted to come back with a big effort, forward Dale Weise said. We wanted to send a message to the league that this is a tough place to play. Nashville has found the Bell Centre accommodating recently, winning three of its last four visits and each of the past two. Rinne, though, outdueled Price in those back-to-back victories, the most recent a 2-1 win Oct. 19, 2013. The Predators are 3-0-2 in their last five versus the Canadiens but blew a three-goal lead in the latest matchup and lost 4-3 on David Desharnais overtime goal Dec. 21, 2013. An injured Rinne missed that game after allowing a combined three goals in the prior four meetings, and it was Prices first win in four starts against Nashville. Max Pacioretty has seven of his team-best 21 goals and three assists during a career high-tying seven-game point streak. Hes scored in each of his last two games against Nashville. FFisher is riding a six-game point streak and has nine goals and seven assists in his last 17. Maikel Franco Phillies Jersey. . He has one point over his past seven games against Montreal. The fact that the Predators (30-10-4) would end the first half tied for the most points in the NHL if they win this game and Anaheim loses in regulation Wednesday against Calgary comes as quite a surprise. Theyve never even won a division title and missed the playoffs the last two seasons. They know what theyve put into it to get to this point. Weve got to continue to press, first-year coach Peter Laviolette told the NHLs official website. Its probably going to get harder if anything, so weve got to be ready to play. That being said, given the choice to be at the top of standings or at the bottom of the standings, everybody in the room would rather be at the top. Nashville earned a season-high fifth consecutive win Friday against Washington in its first game without Pekka Rinne, who is expected to miss at least the next two to four weeks because of a sprained knee. The Predators couldnt keep that run or a 10-game point streak going the next night, falling 5-2 in Detroit. Nashville yielded a league-low 2.17 goals per game before his injury. Rinne tops the NHL with 29 victories and is among the league leaders with a 1.96 GAA. Predators (64PTS) at Canadiens (59PTS) NSH was 1-0-1 vs MTL last season NSH has won 2 straight in MTL, 1GA MTL (28-13-3): 2-2-1 past 5 home games, 14GF, 4/18 on PP Pacioretty (7G, 3A) 7 game PT streak NSH (30-10-4): Lost last game, 13-0-0 following any loss this season Fisher (4G, 3A) 6 game PT streak Cheap Jerseys Online Wholesale Black NFL Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping ' ' '