DAVIE, Fla. -- The man in the middle of the Miami Dolphins years-long malaise is back, and wondering how long hell last.Pro Bowl center Mike Pouncey returned to practice Tuesday after missing the first four games of the season because of a broken left hip that raised concerns about his career. It was his third hip injury since 2014.Talking to the doctors, all the what-ifs came into play, Pouncey said before practice. You start questioning how long you can play in the league and how physical this game is. Im fortunate to be back as fast as I am.When I first injured this hip, there was a lot of doubt in my mind -- would I ever come back and be the same player? I guess well see today.Pouncey, 27, acknowledged hes mindful of the long-term effects his injuries to both hips might have.We all have concerns long term, every guy that plays in the NFL, he said. But right now Im not too much concerned. I wouldnt put myself in the position to hurt myself or have a setback if I wasnt ready to play.Pouncey rejoins a team off to another slow start heading into Sundays game against Tennessee . The Dolphins are 1/3 in large part because of a sputtering offense that has had trouble running the ball and protecting Ryan Tannehill.Pouncey should help in both areas. Despite his health issues, he was chosen for the Pro Bowl each of the past three years, and might be Miamis best player.He can make a huge difference, Tannehill said. With the belief this team has in him, his work ethic, the example he sets day in and day out at practice, as well as the player that he is, itll be great to have him back.A first-round draft pick from the University of Florida in 2011, Pouncey has yet to play on a winning team in Miami. Hes optimistic that can still change this season, despite the slow start.Weve been in this position before, he said. Its only four games in. Weve got 12 games left. Were looking forward to turning this season around and winning a bunch of games here.Pouncey had been sidelined since the second exhibition game against Dallas on Aug. 19.Some pile jumper from the Dallas Cowboys jumped on me, said Pouncey, who failed to get the players identity.He declined to predict whether hell play Sunday, although it seems likely barring a setback. He praised first-year coach Adam Gase for urging patience regarding the timetable.Even Miamis defensive players were happy about Pounceys return to practice.Obviously hes one of our leaders, and a guy that can obviously get the job done and play at a very high level and bring other guys around him, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said. So Im excited to have him back.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve-Wine. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/steven-wineLos Angeles Lakers Pro Shop . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Los Angeles Lakers Shirts . Thats about all he can do right now, so hes trying not to think about when he might be able to play again for the Los Angeles Lakers. https://www.lakersjerseycheap.com/ . -- Bobby Ryan helped the U. Wholesale Lakers Jerseys . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. Cheap Lakers Jerseys . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No. RIO DE JANEIRO -- You may have to wait until halfway through the medal race to see why defending Olympic champions Eric Murray and Hamish Bond have never been beaten in the eight years they have competed in the mens pair.When rowing becomes a journey through pain and lactic acid and other crews start losing pace, the blond New Zealanders tend to keep theirs, pulling away from the field stroke by stroke until the TV cameras struggle to fit the second-place boat in the same shot.Arguably the best rowers ever, Murray, 34, and Bond, 30, head into the mens pair final set for Thursday with 68 consecutive wins since 2009, including two in the qualifying heats in Rio de Janeiro. So what do they do differently from other crews?Were just better looking, Murray joked to The Associated Press after the semifinals Tuesday. Honestly, we dont do a hell of a lot differently. We train hard; they train hard. We just try to refine our technique and our training philosophy that makes us go fast.Known as the Kiwi pair in the rowing world, Murray and Bond are in a category of their own. As physically fit as anyone, they also have the mental strength to win even when theyre not having a good day.In the semifinals, they looked relaxed throughout the 2-kilometer course even as their opponents were clenching their teeth and grimacing in red-faced agony. After the race they leisurely rowed back down the side of the course while the other crews were recovering in the finish area, bent over their boats, gasping for oxygen.An interesting feature of the Murray-Bond phenomenon is they rarely lead a race from start to finish. Sometimes theyre even in last place at the 500-meter mark and you start wondering whether this is it, theyre done, the spell is broken.Then the battle with fatigue kicks in and other boats start seeing their stroke rate go down.Whereas the New Zealand pair just keep the pace from the start, and then go quicker, said Eelco Meenhorst, who coaches Dutch pair Roel Braas and Mitchel Steenman. Nobody can do that.Except Murray and Bond.Meenhorst said one of the secrets behind their supremacy is their power-to-weight ratio. They are as strong as the biggest rowers but lighter, giving them a weight advantage on the water.He noted that Braas, a 6-foot-6 (2-meter) mountain of muscle, weighs 220 pounds (100 kilograms), whilee Bond is just 187 pounds (85 kilograms).dddddddddddd Still, the New Zealander rows with nearly the same power.That makes a difference, Meenhorst said. Physically they are really, really remarkable.In London, French pair Germain Chardin and Dorian Mortelette were half a boat-length ahead of the Kiwis at 500 meters, but the gap closed with each stroke and halfway through the course Murray and Bond were in front. At 1,500 meters, the French were fighting for silver, already trailing the Kiwi pair by 5 seconds.Chardin and Mortelette will give it another go in Rio, though they admit theres nothing that suggests the New Zealand crew has gotten any easier to beat.From what Ive seen for four years, I dont think so, Mortelette said. But there are boats which have got close.Pete Reed and Andy Hodge of Britain were just three-tenths of a second behind Murray and Bond in the 2010 world championships. But they never got any closer than that, and after three years of finishing second Reed and Hodge switched to the mens four in time for the London Olympics -- a move that paid off with a gold medal. Theyre now racing in Britains eight.Though Murray and Bond havent tasted defeat in the mens pair, it was a bitter loss in another event that paved the way for their current success. Both were part of the mens four that was expected to win the gold for New Zealand at the 2008 Olympics but didnt even make the final.That disappointment prompted Murray and Bond to break out into a pair, and it was clear from the first races how well they clicked. They kept improving thanks to a brutal training regime and years of fine-tuning little details to make the boat go quicker, Murray said.We know what works, he said. Weve got that eight years of experience over pretty much everybody else in our field.Though they gel perfectly in the boat, Murray and Bond go their separate ways once its out of the water. They have different lives and dont really hang out outside working hours.Ive got my family. Hamish has got his partner and everything. We dont go and socialize and live in each others pockets, Murray said. We just make sure that were doing the business in one sense and then doing our own thing in the other. ' ' '