NEU » offense and one touchdown to Stan

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Jeff Fisher has an extension in place to return as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, a development that leaked to the media on Sunday morning but transpired several months earlier.Fisher confirmed it in Sundays postgame news conference, minutes after his team was thoroughly outplayed in a 26-10 loss to the New England Patriots. He said the deal was signed well before even the first preseason game.The news was first reported by NFL Network, with multiple sources confirming to ESPN that Fisher and general manager Les Snead, who was also in the final month of his current contract, are signed through the 2018 season. Snead was not made available by the Rams, who dont allow the media to conduct postgame?interviews with front-office members.Fishers team has dropped seven of its past eight games, one loss away from giving Fisher his sixth consecutive losing season as a head coach.Asked what he would say to fans who are wondering why he is receiving an extension, Fisher said: Well, Id tell them the truth -- that this was done well before the season started. It was done well before we had 90,000 people at the Coliseum for our first preseason game. Were moving forward. Thats what were doing. Were trying to put a winning product on the field.The Rams confirmed the extension through a team spokesman but are not expected to send out a press release.This week especially represents bad timing for the news to go public. Days after a 49-21 loss to the New Orleans Saints?last week, Fisher was involved in a public spat with Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson, who was infuriated over being denied sideline passes as a response to his criticism of the team. That prompted fans -- old ones in St. Louis, new ones in Los Angeles -- to turn on the team and Fisher, who they had long been clamoring for to be fired.Fisher said discussion with the Rams started at the end of last year, and they moved into the offseason. So I agreed with the organization well before this season started.But the extension does not seem to guarantee much beyond compensation. Its viewed more as a token of appreciation from owner Stan Kroenke, who didnt want Snead or Fisher to finish this season with lame-duck status.Sources told ESPN they believe the deal includes a team option for the Rams, who still could part ways with Fisher after the season and owe him only one year of salary.Its never been my personal position to go ahead and release that stuff, said Fisher, whose agent, Marvin Demoff, is the father of Rams COO Kevin Demoff. Im very appreciative with respect to Stan, knowing what we were going through. It somehow got out. Im expecting to be the coach of this franchise. However, I understand that the wins and losses fall on my shoulders. Thats the fact of our business, and I get that.Fishers Rams have been no better than 7-8-1 and are only 4-8 this season, despite winning three of their first four games. Fishers teams have finished above .500 in only six of his 20 full seasons as an NFL coach, and he has 164 career losses, one away from tying Dan Reeves for the NFL record.Entering Sunday, the Rams were tied for the NFLs most total penalties (691) and had averaged the fewest yards per game (309.1) since Fishers first season with the franchise in 2012.Players, however, stood behind him.I love him, Rams running back Todd Gurley said. I dont care what everybody else says.Damn good decision, added defensive end Eugene Sims of Fishers extension. Fishers a good coach, and hes a players coach. He takes care of us. Hes a great coach. He puts us in good situations. We just have to come out and do our part. We play the game; they coach us.Asked if he believes Fisher is the right man to take the Rams to the playoffs, a place they have not been since 2004, defensive end William Hayes said: Absolutely, man. Stand-up guy, takes care of his guys. He does everything that a player wants from his coach. He pushes us.Hayes pointed to all the close losses the Rams have sustained, five by seven points or less, as an indication that this season couldve easily been different.The extension is proof the Rams brass does not view Fisher as harshly as the fan base does. They credit him, and Snead, for turning around a franchise that had lost 65 of 80 games in the five years before they took over and are grateful for what Fisher did in helping transition the team from St. Louis to Los Angeles over the offseason.But Fishers Rams still have to get right if he wants to stay.Ive got some work to do here to finish up strong, Fisher said. You know, we have some personnel issues to deal with and get better. And we have some issues to deal with from an offensive side of the ball.ESPNs Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington contributed to this report. Custom Ravens T-shirts . The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book. Ravens Jerseys China . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. http://www.customravensjersey.com/ . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Custom Ravens Jerseys . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. Wholesale Custom Ravens Shirts . John Lucas, signed as a mentor for rookie Trey Burke, showed he can score if required, scoring 12 points of his 16 points in the second quarter as Utah built an 18-point lead. MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Perhaps nothing is more frustrating in football than a tough loss followed by a week off.Especially after just one game.Yet after Kansas State lost 26-13 at Stanford to open the season, that is exactly what the Wildcats had to endure: One whole week watching just about everybody take the field, while they stayed at home and rued their many missed opportunities in California.I didnt know we had a bye week until coach told us that Sunday, Kansas State linebacker Mike Moore said. He said we had a bye week and I thought about the fact that we had to wait another week to play. It was kind of frustrating, but it comes with the season.Moore believes the Wildcats made the most of the practice time, correcting the problems they had against the Cardinal in preparation for their home opener Saturday against Florida Atlantic.The Owls (1-1) are coming off a lopsided loss to Miami last weekend.It is definitely exciting to get back in front of the home fans, Wildcats running back Justin Silmon said. We did not like the result of the first game, and we definitely want to fix that, but it is going to be good to play in front of the fans again too.The Wildcats will be christening the latest renovation to Bill Snyder Family Stadium, a $15 million project to enclose the northeast corner. It follows nearly $200 million in recent renovations and gives fans the ability to walk around the entire stadium concourse for the first time.It should also be nice for the Owls. The project created new visiting locker rooms.Florida Atlantic is in its third season under Charlie Partridge, and still looking for the kind of breakthrough victory that can prove theres been progress. Partridge said he needs look no further than Kansas State counterpart Bill Snyder for a blueprint in building a program.I have met him a couple times, he said. It is one of those turnarounds that all of us who are working to build a program -- you have to look at what he did. How he did it. It has to apply to where you are, but it has reallly been something for all of us in the progression to watch Bill Snyder.ddddddddddddHe steps away for a few years, the program flounders, Partridge said. He comes right back and he builds and builds it right into a bowl-contending team again. Very impressive.As the Wildcats and Owls prepare to meet Saturday, here are some of the key story lines:BYE, BYE, BYE: The Wildcats are just 18-9 under Snyder following a midseason bye, though most of those games have come during the Big 12 schedule against tougher competition. Their last two were a 36-34 loss at No. 20 Oklahoma State and a 31-24 loss to No. 2 Baylor.QB HERITAGE: Florida Atlantic quarterback Jason Driskel is the brother of Jeff Driskel, who played the position at Florida and Louisiana Tech -- and coincidentally, faced the Wildcats last season .Driskel presents some problems because he is a good scrambler as well, Snyder said. He is not the easiest guy in the world to tackle. His scramble ability and his ability to throw the ball pose some issues. He handles the offense quite well.GETTING DEFENSIVE: Kansas State only allowed 70 yards of offense and one touchdown to Stanford in the second half, an encouraging sign for a group that struggled much of last season.SPEAKING OF DEFENSE: The Owls held Miami to just 62 yards over its first five drives in their 38-10 loss. They gradually got worn down by the bigger, stronger Hurricanes as the game went on.I expect to see our guys overcome the adversity of a loss, Partridge said. Our kids were appropriately disappointed after the loss. It was a tough loss. I expect our kids to get over the adversity of that loss and prepare with a competitive spirit.RARE MEETING: The schools have met just once before with the Wildcats beating the Owls 45-0 in 2006. Kansas State is 21-4 against current members of Conference USA.---Online: AP college football site: http://collegefootball.ap.org/ ' ' '