techniques and stuff that are coached to you in college.

  WASHINGTON -- The Washington Wizards waived Andray Blatche on Tuesday, designating him as the teams amnesty player. . The 25-year-old forward averaged 9.9 points and 5.4 rebounds over seven seasons with the Wizards, who drafted him out of high school in the second round in 2005. The move enables the Wizards to remove the $23 million remaining on Blatches contract from their salary cap after he failed to live up to expectations and dealt with a series of off-court incidents. "Andray did not figure into our future plans, and using the amnesty provision is a mutually beneficial opportunity for us to part ways," Wizards team president Ernie Grunfeld said. Blatche was shot during a carjacking attempt in September 2005, was arrested in 2007 for soliciting *** from an undercover police officer and suspended for a game in December 2010 for brawling with teammate JaVale McGee outside a Washington nightclub. He also clashed with coaches. In January 2010, then-coach Flip Saunders suspended him for a game after he was belligerent with the coaching staff. At last seasons home opener, Blatche addressed the crowd by saying: "This is your captain, Andray Blatche," and after the game complained there werent enough plays being run for him. In 2011-12, he played in just 26 games, averaging 8.5 points. Wizards coach Randy Wittman banished him from the team in March to work on his conditioning. Earlier in the season, Blatche missed time with a calf injury. Attempts to reach Blatche for comment were unsuccessful. "We will be able to continue to develop our core group of young players, blend in the solid veterans we have acquired and maintain financial flexibility while Andray will be able to get a fresh start with another team," Grunfeld said. "We wish him the best moving forward." . -- Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan says injured receiver Pierre Garcon is a "long shot" to play against the New York Giants on Sunday. . The Goldeyes blew two three-run leads and a two run in the lead in the contest and entered the ninth and 10th innings with the lead. Chris Roberson, in Winnipegs second at bat of the game, hit a two-run homer that also scored Price Kendall, who opened the game with a walk. .15 metres. The native of Kamloops, B.C., who was ranked No. 1 in the world in shot put last season, battled injuries over the winter but appears to be on form heading into the London Olympics. . And its not as if there werent plenty of other topics of conversation in the wake of a 42-26 loss to Toronto in a CFL East semifinal Sunday that was nowhere near as close as the score suggested. . According to the Globe and Mail, Heatley filed a lawsuit against Stacey McAlpine and McAlpines parents last week in Calgary.FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Chandler Jones never seems satisfied. The New England Patriots rookie defensive end made an immediate impact in his first professional game four weeks ago, recording five tackles and a strip-sack that was recovered for a touchdown. Not enough. The 21st overall pick out of Syracuse jarred another ball loose the following week and has a sack in three of his first four NFL games. Not content. Jones on Thursday was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for September. And guess what? Theres still room for improvement. "I feel personally that its not good enough," he said as the Patriots (2-2) continued preparations for the Denver Broncos (2-2). "Even though they say Im the rookie of the month for September, we still have a .500 record. Thats just not good enough." Jones has provided a much-needed menacing presence along the New England defensive line -- something that has been lacking. Along with his trio of sacks, which leads all rookies, the 22-year-old has collected 17 tackles in helping stabilize New Englands run defence. The Patriots are tied for the seventh at 85.2 yards per game after ranking 17th last season, allowing more than 117 yards a contest. Perhaps even more impressive, though, is the rate at which he has been on the field, lining up for more than 90 per cent of the defensive snaps. "I have a lot of work to do," Jones said. "For me personally, I feel like I have a long way to go. Im still a rookie, its a long season ahead of me and we got a lot more games to play. Each week Im trying to get better. You take it one day at a time and you let those days stack." Sundays test likely will be more challenging than anything hes faced thus far, too. After chasing down the likes of Jake Locker, Kevin Kolb, Joe Flacco and Ryan Fitzpatrick -- not exactly a star-studded cast -- Jones now is tasked with wreaking havoc on Denver quarterback Peyton Manning, a certain Hall of Famer who first entered the league when Jones was just 10 years old. "Definitely been watching him since I was a little kid, but you take this game with the same approach that you would take it from Week 1 to Week 2 to Week 13," he said. . "I dont try to play the name game, who Im going against. Its a quarterback out there and its my job to get after him." Veteran linebacker Rob Ninkovich isnt the least bit surprised at Jones swift learning curve, or the way he handles himself. "I think really he came in ahead of many rookies that come into this league," Ninkovich said. "A lot has to do with what you learn in college and the techniques and stuff that are coached to you in college. Whoever was coaching him obviously gave him some good stuff to where hes able to come in and make an impact right away." Ninkovich pointed toward Jones innate ability to diagnose plays as a primary reason for his early success. "It takes time to just get comfortable on the field and know when to go, and when to play the run, when to pass rush," he said. "I say just him just having the awareness of the situations and able to really get after the quarterback and also play the run as well." Despite obvious support from his teammates, who speak highly of him on a regular basis, Jones still believes he has something to prove, especially to the veterans like four-time Pro Bowl standout Vince Wilfork. "I want those guys to not have to worry about what Im doing and make sure I have my playbook down," Jones said. "Thats the biggest thing that I want to do is just show these guys next to me that I can do it and I can step my game up for them." And has he done that yet? "Theres a quote that goes, You never are doing as good as you think you are and youre never doing as bad as you think you are," he said. "So, if you just stay humble and level-headed throughout the whole process, you should be pretty good." While Jones has been rather tight-lipped about his early accolades, he did reveal one key component to his game. "Im having a lot of fun," he said. "Thats the one thing about football that you cant take away from. This being my job, but you got to have fun. "Got to." ' ' '