DAVIE, Fla. -- A sweltering practice had just ended Monday, and a puddle of perspiration formed at the feet of Miami Dolphins defensive end Dion Jordan, who was losing weight even as he talked about gaining it. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2013 draft said he has added more than 15 pounds in the past year, which should make him better equipped to take on NFL blockers. "I definitely feel stronger," Jordan said. "I needed it. Last year I was definitely too light to be out there trying to go against some of those offensive tackles." Jordan was on the field for less than a quarter of the Dolphins defensive snaps in 2013, which meant only modest dividends from a player who received a $13.3 million signing bonus. He excelled as a pass rusher for Oregon, but at 6-6 and less than 250 pounds, the rookie had trouble finding a home in the Dolphins 4-3 defence. A stronger Jordan should be a better fit at end, and he said the additional bulk hasnt cost him any speed or quickness. At 24, he expects to get even heavier as he grows older. "Have you seen my frame? Does it look like Im getting too big?" said Jordan, who has long arms and legs. "I would never sacrifice my speed for weight." Plus, he said, the extra weight comes in handy on days on Monday, when the temperature was near 90 by the time practice ended. "If you can come out in this heat, game time will be cake," he said. Jordan blames his slow development last year in part to the lingering effects of right shoulder surgery in February 2013. He missed much of training camp and said he was never 100 per cent last year. "Its hard to get better health-wise when you have live bullets each Sunday," he said. "It was a mental thing, because I was hurt and I was thinking about it a lot." The shoulder also kept him out of the weight room, but now hes healthy and able to take full advantage of the Dolphins off-season program, including a lifting regimen that has helped him to put on pounds. Coach Joe Philbin likes what he sees from a heavier Jordan. "The size can be an asset in the running game, and he still looks to be moving very well," Philbin said. "And hes starting to play faster. You notice his play speed getting better -- probably theres less thinking, and more familiarity with what were asking him to do and how to do it." One of Jordans tutors has been former Dolphins Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Taylor, whose has a similar physique with long limbs. Taylor has been working with Jordan two or three days a week this spring. "Thats a bonus on my part," Jordan said. "Hes a cool dude, and hes showing me how to use my length. Hes dropping a lot of knowledge." Jordans fast enough to drop into pass coverage, and he lined up in several places on the defence during Mondays practice. He also worked on special teams, as he did at Oregon and as a rookie. "I can help this team," he said, "in a lot of ways." Wholesale Jerseys . The Raptors have to get through the pesky New York Knicks Wednesday at Madison Square Garden and can lock up the third spot in the Eastern Conference with a win or a Chicago loss in Charlotte. Stitched Jerseys . Altidore strained his left hamstring in the Americans opener against Ghana on June 16 and didnt play in their next two games. "We dont know how much because we need to see how hes going, but hes available," U. https://www.cheapjerseysjustwholesale.com/ . The Mavericks avoided a season sweep by the Nuggets, who ran away with a win in Denver two weeks ago to hand Dallas its longest losing streak at three games. Dallas (42-28) got a boost in the playoff race when Miami rallied from seven down in the last 3 1/2 minutes to beat Memphis 91-86 Friday night. Cheap Authentic Jerseys . Goodell said in an ESPN Radio interview Monday (http://es.pn/1gkbauy ) that participants played harder and made the game very competitive. Goodell says he had fun watching the game Sunday and thinks fans did, too. Authentic Jerseys . Yahoo! Sports columnist Marc Spears says that the Boogie Smooth album may have been an elaborate April Fools prank.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Relentless is the word Columbus forward Brandon Dubinsky chose to describe the surging Blue Jackets style of play. Dubinsky and Matt Calvert each had a goal and assist to lead Columbus to a team-record eighth-straight win -- the longest active streak in the league -- with a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night in the franchises 1,000th game. Jack Johnson, Derek MacKenzie and Nathan Horton also scored for Columbus. The Blue Jackets played their inaugural season in 2000 and has only made the playoffs once, but are finally showing real signs of promise. "Theres a confidence in the room now," coach Todd Richards said. "I think there is an understanding of how we need to play, what we need to do as a group to have success." The offence has come on of late, but the backbone has been Sergei Bobrovsky, last seasons winner of the Vezina Trophy, which goes to the leagues top goalie. Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves in his first game against his former club to earn his seventh win in a row since returning from a groin injury. "Its everybody from Bob all the way out that are contributing," Dubinsky said. The Blue Jackets closed out the Flyers with four straight goals to improve to a league-best 9-0-1 record in January. They are currently holding an Eastern Conference playoff spot. "If you look at the standings we are still right there," Dubinsky said. "By no means can we be satisfied. Obviously its a big accomplishment. We are happy, we are going to enjoy it tonight. We are going to come to work tomorrow and get ready for a tough game." Brayden Schenn and Vincent Lecavalier scored for the Flyers, playing the second of an unscheduled back-to-back set after a snowstorm in Philadelphia pushed their game, a 3-2 loss to Carolina, to Wednesday. Philadelphia is 2-4-2 since winning 10 of 13. Coach Craig Berube said the Flyers recent struggles are because of poor execution inside their blue line. "It starts in our own end breaking the puck out," he said. "We are not doing a very good job of it. We end up spending too much time in our own end." Backup Ray Emery got the nod in goal instead of Steve Mason and had 34 stops. Mason, acquired from the Blue Jackets in 2012, played against the Hurricanees and has yet to face his former team in two visits to Columbus.dddddddddddd The home crowd chided the former rookie of the year with chants of "We want Mason!" during the second and third periods. The Flyers fell behind 1-0 at 8:20. Johnsons shot from the right boards bounced off the legs of Luke Schenn and eluded Emery for his third of the season. Brayden Schenn tied it 1:56 in on a nice individual effort. He stripped the puck from Ryan Murray at the Columbus blue line, then cut in on Bobrovsky, eventually scoring on his third rapid-fire shot for his 14th. Lecavalier made it 2-1 just under six minutes later with his 11th, blasting a shot from the slot on the power play after a nice passing combination. The Blue Jackets responded with goals 4:49 apart to regain the lead, then added two more in the third period. "Were slowly getting the feeling in the room that no matter what teams throw at us we seem to dig deep and come up with a win," MacKenzie said. Corey Tropps forecheck squirted the puck free to Artem Anisimov, who centred a short-range pass to MacKenzie that he chipped in for his third at 11:24. Calvert was credited with the go-ahead score, his sixth, on a quirky power-play sequence. Philadelphias attempted sure clear, hit a glass partition and stayed in their zone. James Wisniewski got the puck and sent a hard pass from the left circle that hit Calverts turning skate in the crease and deflected into the goal. The play went to review and was upheld. Dubinsky beat Emery with a wrist shot from the slot for his 11th at 3:29 of the third. Horton scored a highlight-reel goal three minutes later, stepping around Andrej Meszaros at the boards and powering a high shot past Emery for his fourth. "This is something weve talked about as a group ... really trying to create an identity for our team and I think weve done that." NOTES: The Blue Jackets look to continue their record run Saturday against visiting Buffalo. ... Philadelphia is 6-4-0 in the second of back-to-back games. ... Columbus is 12-7-1 in the Metropolitan Division, while Philadelphia is 9-8-3. ... Arguably the Flyers best player this season, Mason recently signed a three-year contract extension. However, hes 1-2-1 with a 4.21 goals against average in his last five starts, getting pulled twice. ' ' '