WESTFIELD Josh Oliver Jersey , Ind. (AP) — Last season, Darius Leonard led the league in tackles, earned the Defensive Rookie of the Year award and was an All-Pro.Most players would consider it a spectacular start to an NFL career.The Indianapolis Colts linebacker views his rookie season another way — as a solid foundation to complete some unfinished business in 2019.“I wasn’t named MVP, I wasn’t a Super Bowl champion and I wasn’t a Pro Bowler,” Leonard has said repeatedly. “So, there are still goals I hadn’t reached last year. I just go in with the same mindset as proving everybody wrong and just outworking everybody on the field.”For Leonard and All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson, this year’s prime focus is proving 2018 was no fluke — and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.While Leonard flew around the field , piling up tackles and filling stat sheets, Nelson’s impact on Indy’s offense was equally impressive. The sixth overall pick in the 2018 draft teamed with rookie right tackle Braden Smith, a second-round pick, to fill two glaring holes on an offensive line that allowed a league-high 56 sacks in 2017.Together, Nelson and Smith helped the Colts go five straight games without yielding a sack, the league’s third-longest streak since 1982; gave up a league-low 18 sacks all season; and paved the way for the Colts to rush for 200 or more yards in back-to-back games for the first time in the same season since 1985.Nelson’s reward: a Pro Bowl selection and his own spot as an All-Pro.It’s only the second time in league history rookie teammates made the team. The only other players to achieve the feat were Hall of Famers Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus of the Chicago Bears in 1965.Now Leonard and Nelson are chasing bigger objectives for their encore performances.“I would say more goals are more detailed on what I want to accomplish,” Nelson said after Thursday’s first training camp practice. “It’s really about cleaning up my technique. But the No. 1 goal is to win the Super Bowl.”Just how much better can this tag-team tandem get?Well, they excelled in spite of all the potential pitfalls rookie face: learning new teammates, new coaches and new systems.Consider, too, that because of the draft and pre-draft workouts, Nelson couldn’t participate in all of the Colts’ offseason practices, and an injury prevented Leonard from making it onto the field until the first day of training camp.Leonard also played most of last season with an ankle injury that forced him to miss one game and eventually prompted him to undergo minor surgery in May. Leonard pronounced himself fit and ready to go when the Colts reported to camp at Grand Park Sports Campus in suburban Indianapolis on Wednesday http://www.jaguarscheapstore.com/quincy-...iams-ii-jersey-cheap , weighing in at a trimmer 220 pounds and determined to increase his 163-tackle total after correcting the mistakes defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus outlined on a highlight reel of missed tackles.“Getting off blocks a lot faster,” Leonard said. “I tend to stay on blocks much longer than I expected. Talking with Floos, we saw some things that I needed to work on, kind of my plant, point and drive, making tackles inside-out. Sometimes I overshoot a lot of tackles and I just use my athleticism and long arms. So now I just want to work by pinning their hip and making plays from there.”Nelson also starts Year 2 with a new look. His neatly trimmed hair has grown out, he’s added a Fu Manchu and he appears more vocal than he was last season. He made a slight change to his offseason workouts while preparing to work with two new offensive line coaches, Chris Strausser and Howard Mudd, who emphasize technique. But at least Nelson knows the starting five is back, ready to keep Luck upright again and deliver on the goal of finishing with a top-five rushing offense.Nelson knows what he must do to make it work.“For me, it’s getting my hands inside, keeping my elbows in in the run game and the pass game, and really trusting and believing in my technique,” he said.And if Nelson and Leonard hone their skills just a bit, they and their teammates know anything is possible.“It’s hard to imagine he could’ve had a better year than he did last year,” coach Frank Reich said when asked about Leonard. “As good as he was, it’s crazy to think that there are a million ways he can get better and he has to get better. I have heard him say that himself and we all know that that is the way great players think.” EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Sam Darnold nearly pulled off another one.Six days after leading the New York Jets to the first fourth-quarter comeback victory of his young career, the rookie quarterback almost did it again — falling just shy in a 29-22 loss to the Houston Texans on Saturday night.“To go out there against a good Texans team, it would’ve been awesome to be able to get that win Ryquell Armstead Jersey ,” Darnold said, “but we just came up short.”Things looked promising after Darnold and the Jets (4-10) took their first lead of the game on Elijah McGuire’s 2-yard touchdown run with just 5 minutes left.The No. 3 overall pick made plays with his arm and legs during the impressive 15-play, 73-yard go-ahead drive as he converted three third-down plays and a fourth-down opportunity.“He played a gritty ballgame,” coach Todd Bowles said. “He played tough and made some throws.”On third-and-10 from the 19, Darnold took off for 14 yards — and a holding call on Aaron Colvin put the ball on the 2. After Darnold was stopped for no gain on a quarterback draw, he handed the ball to McGuire who pushed up the middle — surrounded by a surging mass of blockers who helped shove him all the way into the end zone for the score.It set off a wild celebration by the Jets.But Deshaun Watson and the Texans — whose nine-game winning streak was snapped by Indianapolis last Sunday — weren’t going down for the second straight game. Watson threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins with 2:15 left, lifting Houston to the victory.“We’ve just got to finish the game,” Darnold said.A holding call on cornerback Morris Claiborne on third down prolonged the Texans’ winning drive, and Watson completed passes of 20 and 3 yards to Demaryius Thomas and 7 yards to Hopkins to get to New York’s 14.“This is how I feed my family,” Claiborne said of the penalty call. “When you make calls like that, you mess that up for me.”Watson then found Hopkins streaking down the left sideline and launched a pass that the receiver somehow came down with despite being tightly covered by Claiborne.“The holding call hurt us, obviously,” Bowles said. “That got them down the field and the guy made a heck of a catch at the end. Mo had him covered great. He’s a great receiver and he made a heck of a play.”Darnold and the Jets had two more chances to pull off a stunner.On fourth-and-14 from the New York 21, Robby Anderson couldn’t come down with Darnold’s throw — and the Jets turned it over on downs.“It was just a little bit of bad judgment by me,” Anderson said. “I came a little bit too much under it and it hit right off my fingertips.”Moments later, Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 40-yard field goal — his fifth kick of the game — made it 29-22 with 54 seconds left.Darnold and the offense came out again with 75 yards between them and a tying touchdown. But after two incompletions and a sack, Darnold faced a fourth-and-18. He threw a short pass to McGuire, who gained 16 yards — 2 short of a first down, sealing the game.“It’s frustrating to lose the ballgame,” Bowles said. “We could’ve finished it a bunch of different ways. Whether it’s offense or defense http://www.jaguarscheapstore.com/gardner...shew-ii-jersey-cheap , we didn’t finish it. The penalties cost us at the end.”Darnold’s overall performance, however, was a glaring bright spot for the Jets — who have had few things to feel good about this season.He was 24 of 38 for 253 yards and touchdown passes to Anderson and Andre Roberts , and also ran six times for 35 yards in arguably his best game of the season. That would mark two straight solid outings for Darnold, who missed three games with a strained foot before returning against Buffalo last Sunday.“He’s just comfortable,” Bowles said. “He’s just playing his game. He’s not trying to be perfect. He’s just trying to play football. He’s just enjoying playing football. That comes with game by game, having success.“You sit out a while, you get to step back and you come back and you learn a little bit. It looks like he’s learned quite a bit.”Darnold’s teammates are also noticing a more confident playmaking quarterback on the field.“He played phenomenal,” safety Jamal Adams said. “He’s a bad man and the future is bright for him.”After the game, Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt found Darnold on the field and gave the young quarterback a hug.“You’re going to be a great pro,” Watt told him.The overall outlook for the Jets appears uncertain with Bowles likely to be looking for a new job when the season ends, and general manager Mike Maccagnan not a lock to return.But one thing New York might be able to count on is the fact it has a young quarterback who is progressing each week.“Yeah, I mean, I feel comfortable getting experience and I feel like I’m seeing the field a lot better,” Darnold said. “I feel like our whole offense is really starting to click a lot better, getting in and out. But, it comes down to wins and losses. We want to get out there and win the game. That’s the whole point of playing, you want to win.”