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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - The Indianapolis Colts had no answer for Julius Thomas in the season opener, when Denvers big tight end scored a trio of touchdowns in single coverage against two linebackers and a safety.Afterward, Colts coach Chuck Pagano called him a monster and a matchup nightmare.Yet, when the teams meet again in the playoffs this weekend, its more likely the Thomas giving the Colts headaches will be Demaryius, not Julius.The Broncos star receiver (whos no relation to their standout tight end) overcame a slow start this season to score 11 TDs and set a franchise single-season record with 1,619 yards receiving on 111 catches.I cant be too excited, Demaryius Thomas said. What would make it better, we go out and win the Super Bowl because you cant take that from me but you can always take a record. So Im excited, but weve still got some work to do.Thomas provided the size and strength to go with the speed of Emmanuel Sanders, who set career highs with 101 catches for 1,404 yards and nine TDs in his first year in Denver.Both of them played through injuries. Thomas had a bum ankle and a jammed finger by the time the season ended and Sanders was dealing with a bad back from, a residual effect of all those hard hits from safeties.Those are tough guys, Peyton Manning said. Two outstanding years. Emmanuel shouldve made the Pro Bowl, in my opinion, with the statistics he put up and Demaryius has been a marked man from defences. To still have the year that he did ... both those guys are outstanding players.Meanwhile, Julius Thomas parlayed his three-TD performance in Denvers 31-24 win over the Colts in the opener to become the first tight end in NFL history to score a dozen touchdowns in back-to-back seasons.It sure looked like hed challenge Rob Gronkowskis NFL record of 17 touchdowns by a tight end set in 2011, too, when he hauled in his 12th TD on Nov. 9 against Oakland.He hasnt scored since.A sprained lower left ankle at St. Louis the following week knocked him out of that game early and helped keep the Broncos out of the red zone in a stunning loss that ultimately cost Denver the No. 1 seed in the AFC.It also led to a drastic decline in red zone efficiency and in the way opponents defended Manning.Without having to worry about the star tight end, opponents played plenty of coverages with a single safety high, bringing the other down to clog up the intermediate crossing routes. That forced Manning to throw more outside the numbers, where he isnt always as accurate.Thomas kept insisting this injury wasnt anything like the right ankle sprain he sustained in 2011 that essentially cost him two full seasons before his breakout last year.He missed a month of games, however, and during that time the Broncos offence morphed from one predicated on the pass to one based on a grinding ground game.While Demaryius Thomas was capping another stellar season, Julius Thomas returned to action for the final three games but caught just three passes for 63 yards.Any time youre not able to do the things that you want to do and you know you can do, its frustrating, he said. But theres not much you can do about it. Just try to find a way to do all you can.He welcomed the Broncos bye last week that they earned as the conferences second seed.It was a big week for me. It was good to get some rest, Julius Thomas said. Every doctor will tell you the most important thing is rest, but its tough to do in the middle of the season. So I got a little bit of time to stay off it and get some treatment on it. It went well.Which team advances to the AFC championship on Sunday could come down to whether the Colts have an answer for Thomas this time — and whether hes the disruptor he was over the first half of the season or the non-factor he was down the stretch.I would imagine theyll do some things a little bit differently, said Thomas, who wouldnt mind seeing a linebacker or safety across from him again.Playing against man is probably one of the more fun parts of the game, he said. I dont know what theyre going to do. If you find out, just leave me a little note. But its going to be exciting. Regardless of what they do, well have a good plan. And its up to us to execute it.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Brandon Morrow Jersey .com) - Stephen Currys jumper with 3. Mickey Morandini Jersey . He was signed to help with depth to the receiving corps because of the loss of Shamawd Chambers to the 6-game injured list. https://www.cheapcubs.com/1120t-james-norwood-jersey-cubs.html . One out away from finishing off an impressive shutout, they let a must-win game slip away. Jerome Walton Cubs Jersey .NYCFC confirmed to The Associated Press on Saturday that this week Lampard signed a contract to start in July — midway through the new teams first season in MLS. Willson Contreras Cubs Jersey . It has been eleven years, eight months, and 261 days since I played my last CFL game.Certain Toronto Blue Jays were so intent on bringing in free agent pitcher Ervin Santana as a teammate that they were will to defer some of their salaries. First reported by FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal, its unknown if the impetus for the deferral proposal came from players or management, but it never left the preliminary stages. Rosenthal says that a pair of agents had heard word of the plan, but that they were never approached by Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos. Santana turned down a one-year, $14 million offer from the Jays and signed with the Atlanta Braves on the same deal after the Braves lost Kris Medlen for the season with Tommy John surgery. Whether or not the actual deferral proposal would fly in practice is another discussion altogether, as there would likely have been significant hurdles from the MLBPA, who is normally loath to allow its players to concede any sort of contractual edge without commensurate compensation. "I never took it that seriously," an agent told Rosenthal. "No way it would have ever passed the (union) unless there was some gain for the players who did that." In an interview with Matt Galloway on CBCs Metro Morning, Blue Jays president and CEO Paul Beeston confirmed that such discussions took place, but maintained that payroll was there if needed. "There was discussion about that and, to be very honest with you, I think, had it gone that way, it would have been fine, but we are at $140 million [in payroll] right now," said Beeston. "The one thing that we do have is a very generous owner from the point of view of what they have committed to try to build the team. I think that the Rogers people, more importantly [former Rogers Communications CEO] Nadir [Mohamed] last year and carried on this year with [current CEO] Guy Laurence and the Rogers family, have given us the dollars weve wanted, that we need to put a contending team on the field. Its up to us to bring them together." For his part, Anthopoulos believed the deal was done. He would not, however, get into the specifics of how the pact would have been structured. "The takeaway for me is we felt that we had an agreement in place," Anthopoulos told reporters prior to teh Jays Friday home opener. "He was prepared to come here. We had the dollars. How we chooose to structure those dollars, those are things that we keep in house.dddddddddddd "But I believe if Kris Medlen had not been hurt, Ervin Santana would be here today." Not that Anthopoulos was about to hold that against the 31-year-old. "He had a lot more interest going into the NL, which is his right," he said. When pressed on whether or not the teams spending was capped, Beeston insisted that it wasnt. "Were a business, so the answer to that is that we have a budget," said Beeston. "Its not a cap. If we can increase our revenue, we can increase our expenses, but we run it as a business." With the Jays only signing catcher Dioner Navarro during the offseason, Beeston said that free agency is not the only avenue to improve his team and that trades could be made over the course of the season. "You have to organize it in manner that you might have to make some trades," Beeston explained. "You may have to look at different ways of bringing your players along, but I dont think from the point of view of money, money is our problem. One of the issues that we have is that we had to build our farm system up and we have done that over the last three or four years, but its not like hockey or basketball, where you come right out of the colleges or out of the minor leagues and move right into the Majors. So some of the pitchers that we have down there like [Marcus] Stroman and [Aaron] Sanchez, theyre just ready to come, but those are the guys that you will want to have introduced into your organization because they have to play three or four years before they make the big dollars. So you need a mixture of the players who are at the minimum, as well as your stars. But you dont win without stars." While Beeston acknowledged that teams can win with smalled budgets, free-spending teams are the ones most likely to find success. "Lets be realistic about it," said Beeston. "You can do it, but youre gonna get lucky and have everybody pop at the same time. Ultimately, teams like the Dodgers and the Yankees and Boston, that are spending all kinds of money, are basically the teams that have star players at every position." The Jays open a three-game set with the New York Yankees on Friday night at the Rogers Centre. ' ' '