ALAMEDA, Calif. Brandon Fusco . -- Free agent running back Maurice Jones-Drew is coming back home to Oakland after signing a three-year contract with the Raiders on Friday. Jones-Drew returns to his native Bay Area after spending his first eight seasons with Jacksonville and starring in college at UCLA. Jones-Drew joins quarterback Matt Schaub, defensive linemen Justin Tuck and LaMarr Woodley and receiver James Jones as successful veterans brought in by general manager Reggie McKenzie this off-season who are looking for a late career spark in Oakland. "Theres a ton of talent here," Jones-Drew said. "Reggie McKenzie and his staff have done a great job of piling on guys that are coming from programs that are winning and know what it takes. Granted, most of us have chips on our shoulders, at least I feel like I got (done) wrong. ... Its something thats going to drive us and push us to that next level." The Raiders also signed two defensive linemen, bringing back Pat Sims to a one-year deal and signing former Green Bay Packer C.J. Wilson. Sims played well in his first season in Oakland with two sacks and 41 tackles while starting all 16 games. He met with other teams before staying in Oakland, according to his agent Rick Smith. Wilson spent the past four seasons with Green Bay, recording 103 tackles and 3 1/2 sacks in 50 games with 11 starts. Jones-Drew had 8,071 yards rushing and 68 touchdowns for Jacksonville but was hampered by injuries the past two seasons. That led the Jaguars to let him test the market in free agency after his five-year, $31 million contract expired. The Jaguars thanked Jones-Drew for his work on the field and in the community. "Maurices toughness, determination and competitive spirit on the field served as a great example to all of his teammates," the team said in a statement. "Maurice has been one of the great Jaguars and he holds several team records for touchdowns that will remain for a long time. His place in Jaguars history is firmly established and we look forward to honouring him in Jacksonville at the appropriate time in the future." After more than two weeks on the open market, Jones-Drew finally found a new home in a familiar place. Jones-Drew grew up in the East Bay town of Antioch and starred at nearby De La Salle high school. Jones-Drew still spent his offseasons in the Bay Area and looked forward to being able to keep his family in one place and that his grandmother will now be able to see him play in person more often. Jones-Drew has gotten hurt the past two seasons when playing the Raiders in Oakland. He missed the final 10 games in 2012 after injuring his left foot at the Coliseum. He strained a tendon in the same foot when playing the Raiders this past season. After ranking second in the NFL with 4,321 yards rushing in a three-year span from 2009-11, Jones-Drew has been limited to 1,217 yards in 21 games the past two seasons. He averaged a career-low 3.4 yards per carry last season. That has led critics to argue that Jones-Drew has lost a step at age 29 and is on the downside of his career. The Raiders are hoping good health will help Jones-Drew return to the elite form he had before the injuries. "I have a ton left in my game," Jones-Drew said. "People tend to look at running backs and say, Oh, youre 29, you dont have anything left. ... I feel like I have a ton left in the tank and I get an opportunity to show that here in Oakland." The Raiders needed help at running back after allowing Jones-Drews former backup in Jacksonville, Rashad Jennings, leave through free agency to sign with the New York Giants. Oakland did bring back injury-prone starter Darren McFadden on a one-year deal but has no other proven tailbacks on the roster. The Raiders are hoping last years sixth-round pick, Latavius Murray, can contribute after spending his entire rookie year on injured reserve. McFadden has missed 29 games over his six-year career with injuries and has averaged 3.3 yards per carry the past two seasons. Jones-Drew said he was told there will be an open competition at running back between him and McFadden. "He kind of has a leg up on me because hes been in this offence already before," Jones-Drew said. "My job is to come in and to compete to play. We both have something to prove and that will help us all out in the long run, competing and being able to push each other." The Raiders also re-signed defensive tackle Pat Sims for one year according to the players agent, and signed former Green Bay Packers defensive lineman C.J. Wilson on Friday. AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Jacksonville, Fla., contributed to this report Paul Krause . -- Jay Heaps is the new coach of the New England Revolution, the MLS team he played nine seasons for as a defender. Brett Favre .S. basketball team could be better than ever. "The roster itself is the strongest roster weve ever had," USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said.The Blue Jays offence has been positively dazzling, especially in the first eight days of May. You might as well change the franchise name from the Blue Jays to the "Thunder Birds." The Jays have scored 56 runs in putting together a 6-2 record, good for an average of seven runs per game. Over the last couple of weeks, everyone has been talking about the firepower of the Colorado Rockies and rightly so, but the Rockies have scored 58 runs over the same span in May and have an identical 6-2 mark. Granted, the Rockies dont play with a DH for the bulk of their games, so their totals are slightly more impressiveThe Jays pitching numbers have improved this month, as well. They have given up just 31 runs or just fewer than four per game. Colorado has surrendered exactly 32 or four runs per game right on the button. On the season, the Jays have scored 178 runs and given up 158. That 178 total is second in the American League to the Chicago White Sox who have racked up 184, which is, coincidentally, the same number they have allowed. The 178 the Jays have scored is the best in the AL East, but the 158 against is fourth-worst in the American League, ahead of only the Texas Rangers (174), Houston Astros (181) and the White Sox. The Jays though have improved by leaps and bounds over a year ago when they were 13-23 out of the gate. At this point last season, the Jays had only scored 139 runs and had given up 190. The -51 run differential was second-worst in the American League to Houston at -73. The really interesting comparison takes us back to 1993, the last time the Blue Jays won the World Series. The season started a week later so it took the 93 Jays until May 14 to play their 35th game, but guess what - their record then was exactly the same as this years edition at 18-17. On that date the 93 Jays had scored, you guessed it, 178 runs, the same as this years team. The 93 bunch though had allowed a dreadful 193 runs through May 14 for a -15 run differential. Im not saying the 2014 Blue Jays are as good a team as the 93 Jays, because at this point that would be ludicrous. Remember that the 93 Jays added Tony Fernandez and Rickey Henderson to the mix with in-season deals and became even stronger and the 1993 edition also had a lights-out closer in Duane Ward. Still, the numbers of the current team are intriguing and give cause for some hope. Another point - the Blue Jays have won a season high five-straight, which, while impressive, can only be considered a starting point. The 93 Jays had three outstanding runs in-season, From May 20 through June 5, they won 13 of 16 games. Then, from June 15 through the 29, they took 12 of 14 to push their record to 48-30. After losing 10 of 11 from June 30 to July 11 to fall to 49-40, they rebounded to take nine of 10 from July 24 through August 3. Next came a nine-game win streak from September 10 through 21 and then they finished the season by winning five of their final seven. The Jays finished the 1993 regular season with a 95-67 record, one victory fewer than the previous years team. Christian Ponder. They scored 847 runs, second-best in the American League and gave up 742, which was fifth in the American League. Their run differential was +105. On last May 9, the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox were in a virtual tie for first in the AL East. Tampa Bay was 16-18, four-and-a-half games out. The Blue Jays were dead last at 13-23, eight-and-a-half games out. On May 9, this time around, the Jays are alone in third place in the East, one game back of the Yankees and one-and-a-half behind first-place Baltimore. Its still a very long, difficult haul, but this summer may not be as long as many of us thought it would be. - We dont get to see enough of Colorado to truly appreciate the talents of their young third baseman Nolan Arenado. On Thursday, he broke Michael Cuddyers club record 27-game hit streak that was set only last season. At 28 games, Arenado is exactly halfway to Joe DiMaggios iconic 56-game streak set in 1941. If Arenado stays healthy and can put together one of those streaks for the ages, he would be in position to equal and then surpass DiMaggios streak June 10 and 11 at home against the Atlanta Braves at Coors Field. Realistically, though, in this day and age, its hard to see anyone coming close to that milestone. - The Blue Jays lost outfielder Moises Sierra on a waiver claim to the White Sox last weekend. He was added to Chicagos roster last Sunday and made late-inning appearances in that game against the Cleveland Indians and in Mondays cross-city rivalry game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, going hitless in one at-bat for the two games. On Tuesday, though, Adam Dunn was a late scratch and skipper Robin Ventura stuck Sierra in the line-up in right field. He went four-for-four and scored a run in the White Sox 5-1 victory over the Cubbies. It will be interesting to see how his career unfolds with this fresh start. - Two of this years early season hard-luck pitchers faced each other earlier this week at Wrigley. Jose Quintana of the White Sox pitched seven innings of one-hit ball, giving up just one run, while racking up his fourth no-decision in starts. This coming from the guy who set an American League record a year ago with 17 no-decisions. Quintana is 1-2 on the campaign with a 3.56 ERA. On the flip side, the Cubs Jeff Samardzija, whos in his contract year, fired nine innings of three-hit, one-run ball before being taken out. Again, a no decision. Samardizija, whos pitched like an All-Star and has been the subject of many a trade rumour is 0-3 with an incredible 1.62 earned run average. Ultimately, he probably will be traded to a contender, maybe even the Jays, but not until a lot closer to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. And, yes, the White Sox did win that game at Wrigley 3-1 over the Cubs in 12 innings. ' ' '
