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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Hes baaack.And minus a surprise setback Sunday against Buffalo, its almost like Tom Brady never left.Despite being without their franchise centerpiece for the past month while he served his four-game Deflategate suspension, the New England Patriots welcome Brady back on Monday 3-1 after a 16-0 loss to the Bills.When Brady returns to the Patriots facilities, it will put an official stamp on the 21-month odyssey that has hovered over the franchise since an NFL investigation concluded the Patriots intentionally underinflated footballs used in the AFC Championship game on Jan. 18, 2015.A federal judge initially overturned the suspension, allowing Brady to play last season, but an appeals court reinstated it this spring. Prior to training camp in July, Brady announced he would end his legal challenges and accept the leagues punishment.The NFL won that fight, but with a nearly unblemished start to 2016, the Patriots have barely missed a beat.Thats not to say they havent had their trials. New England won games it wasnt expected to and watched the balance of the AFC East struggle to keep up. It did it all with a roster that has had its issues with health at key positions.As much as the team has rallied behind Brady understudies Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett the past month, there is also no denying the eagerness in the Patriots locker room to see No. 12 back in uniform.Its going to be great, receiver Julian Edelman said. Its one of your best players on the team. A guy that leads us. ... Anytime one of your best players isnt there, theres something missing.The wait is now over.A recap of the Patriots month without Brady:---THE REPLACEMENTS: Neither Garoppolo nor Brissett had made an NFL regular-season start prior to this season. Garoppolo made his debut a memorable one , throwing for 264 yards and a touchdown in New Englands 23-21 road win over the Arizona Cardinals.Garoppolo was having an even better outing against the Miami Dolphins at home the following week, throwing three touchdown passes, before being knocked out of the game in the second quarter after having his right shoulder slammed into the turf. Brissett took over and helped the Patriots hold on for a 31-24 win .With Garoppolos shoulder still sore, Brissett ran for a touchdown the following week in his first career start in a 27-0 win over the Houston Texans. He tweaked his right thumb in the second half but recovered enough to start Sunday against the Bills, which ended in his first career loss.GRONKS SLOW START: Rob Gronkowski hasnt been himself since suffering a hamstring injury late during training camp. He missed the first two games of the season and has played sparingly since. But he finally broke through with his first reception of the season late in Sundays loss. He, too, is looking forward to having Bradys presence back in the huddle. I mean, I dont even have to answer that, Gronkowski said when asked about Bradys impact. Youve got to give hats off to Jacoby going out there. Much respect to him going out there and doing what he did (Sunday) as a rookie, so hats off to our quarterbacks. They did a tremendous job the first four weeks and obviously its exciting to get Tom back.INJURIES: Along with the quarterbacks and Gronk, the Patriots continue to deal with a handful of injuries at key positions. Linebacker Donta Hightower has been slowed by a knee issue, and guard Jonathan Cooper has yet to play because of a foot issue.NINKOVICH RETURNS: Brady isnt the only player the Patriots get back Monday. Defensive end Rob Ninkovich also returns after he received a four-game ban for violating the NFLs policy on performance enhancing substances. But there is still a question of how healthy he is after suffering a triceps injury that sidelined him early during training camp.BLOUNT TO THE RESCUE: Running back LeGarrette Blount was a saving grace for New Englands offense with Brady out. Through three games, he was leading the NFL in rushing with a 99.3 yards per game average. His efforts earned him the AFCs offensive player of the month award for September. He finished with just 54 yards against Buffalo, but should help take the early pressure off Brady as he eases back in.UP NEXT: Bradys first taste of the 2016 regular season will be at Cleveland on Sunday. He returns to Gillette Stadium on Oct. 16 when the Patriots host the Bengals.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightowerAndrew Heaney Jersey . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Cheap Angels Jerseys . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. http://www.cheapangelsjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-kole-calhoun-jersey . -- Charline Labonte couldnt have asked for a better homecoming. Martin Maldonado Jersey . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug.Last weekends Northern Arena BEAT Invitational saw eight teams assemble in Montreal for one of the few Dota 2 LANs left before the Boston Major. Through three days of play, two teams met in the grand finals: the Chinese Goliath, Wings Gaming, and the North American David, Team NP.Wings dominance at Northern Arena was unquestionable, as the victor of The International 6 dropped only a single game on its rampage through the upper bracket. Taking out regional rivals EHOME, American qualifier FDL and stomping NP into the lower bracket in the semifinals, Wings looked like not a day had passed since the teams run in Seattle.But whereas Wings was maintaining its streak of atypical drafting and consistent play across picks, Team NP brought an element of the unknown to the table. Comparisons of NP to Cloud9s Dota 2 days are not unfounded; besides boasting similar rosters, Jacky EternaLEnVy Mao and the rest of NP exhibit the same ability to inject chaos into a professional match. While NP was dropped into the lower bracket by Wings, the newly formed North American squad fought through elimination matches against Alliance, Evil Geniuses and EHOME to earn a second shot at the TI6 champs.In an abnormal best-of-three grand finals, Team NP came out swinging with a tried-and-true lineup oriented around Kurtis Aui_2000 Lings Drow Ranger and Maos Mirana. The push-heavy composition, bolstered by some fantastic play from Theeban 1437 Silvas Rubick, helped secure an early advantage against Wings, putting the giant down two barracks and facing an 0-1 start to the series.ddddddddddddWhen it came time to close the match out, however, NP was consistently rebuffed from Wings high ground, only able to make dents at best, and all the while Chu shadow Zeyu slowly accumulated a massive gold lead on his Juggernaut. Eventually Zeyu hit critical mass, with NP expending all options and still failing to halt Wings from striking back and seizing the first win.On match point, Team NP turned to comfort picks. Lings Sven and Maos Invoker have become fallbacks for the roster, and for good reason; in the teams short lifespan, it boasts a 60 percent win rate when Ling is on Sven, 58 percent for Maos Invoker and a 55 percent win rate when both are on their respective heroes.Wings read the draft though, seemingly baiting out the Invoker and responding with an Alchemist mid for Zhou bLink Yang. Hitting huge net worths, grabbing an uncontested item stock of Armelt, Radiance and Boots of Travel in 15 minutes, the writing was on the wall. A few team fights went NPs way, but Yangs ever-farming Alchemist just meant that NP was delaying the inevitable. Wings took the ancient and the series in 36-minutes, ending their run on a 2-0 grand finals in Montreal.Four of the eight teams who were at the BEAT Invitational, including Wings and NP, will meet again this coming weekend at The Summit 6 in Los Angeles before heading off to compete in the Boston Major on Dec. 3. ' ' '