RENTON, Wash. - The Seattle Seahawks will be without tight end Zach Miller for at least a few weeks after he underwent ankle surgery during the teams bye week.Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Monday that Miller had been bothered by loose bodies in the ankle for weeks and instead of trying to play through pain that was likely to get worse, Miller took advantage of the early bye week and had the surgery now.There is no set timetable for when Miller will return. Carroll said they would give him a couple of weeks and then take it on a week-by-week basis. That means Miller would miss the next two games at Washington and versus Dallas before his status is reassessed.Its been bothering him for a number of weeks. Hes been playing with it and we just dont want him to have to tolerate it any longer. We wanted to see if we can fix him up and hopefully hell have a speedy recovery. It was just a cleanup kind of thing but he had some loose bodies in his ankle and it was very, very uncomfortable.Millers surgery was first reported by Fox Sports. He was listed on the injury report with an ankle injury before the Seahawks 26-20 overtime win over Denver in Week 3. Miller was in on 71 of 79 snaps against the Broncos.Seattle has leaned on having three or more wide receivers on the field this season with the return of Percy Harvin. Through three weeks, the Seahawks have attempted just 17 passes (19 per cent) with two tight ends on the field versus nearly 81 per cent of their pass attempts coming with three or four wide receivers, according to STATS Inc.Miller has six receptions in three games, while backup Luke Willson has just one catch.Where Seattle will take a blow is in losing Millers skill as a blocker. Hes regularly been asked to block a defensive end or help tackles to control the defensive pass rush. That responsibility now falls to Willson to start.Luke has done a really good job. Hes obviously going to play a ton now, Carroll said. Its really a great opportunity for him to step up. Hes improved in every area. Hes one of those young guys thats gotten a ton better since hes been with us. Hes stronger, hes faster than a year ago because of the off-season. In every way hes improved. This is a lot to ask of him, the first time hell have this kind of duty, but its his turn to step up.But Carroll believes Seattle has in-house options to handle Millers various roles. Willson and Cooper Helfet will get the first cracks, but the Seahawks could turn to using an extra offensive lineman a€” like backup tackle Alvin Bailey a€” in running situations. Seattle also has former college tight end and now rookie offensive tackle Garry Gilliam on its roster. Gilliam had seven catches for 65 yards during the 2012 season at Penn State before moving to tackle for 2013.Weve had a lot of guys in here. We worked out a lot of people. We would like to stay with our people and banking on the communication and the system working for us. Were going to get it fixed right here, Carroll said.___Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Darwin Thompson Chiefs Jersey .500 ball against teams with winning records, so they needed a huge lift from somebody Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders. Marcus Allen Youth Jersey . After a 10-game skid, winning sure feels good. Atlantas third error in the last two innings allowed Jackie Bradley Jr. http://www.thechiefsshoponline.com/Youth...-Chiefs-Jersey/. Minutes before the final whistle of Sporting Kansas Citys 3-0 victory over a shorthanded Montreal Impact squad on Saturday afternoon, Saputo tweeted: "Our fans deserve better. Christian Okoye Chiefs Jersey . This week, they discuss the NCAAs revenue sharing, Don Zimmer, soccer language and Super Bowl 50. Christian Okoye Jersey . The Senators return from a lengthy layoff caused by Wednesdays attack on Parliament Hill to host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.TORONTO - For months weve been hearing all about their impossibly difficult early-season schedule. Through 34 contests, the Raptors have had the most difficult slate of games in the Eastern Conference, according to Basketball-Reference.com. Theyve played 19 on the road and 16 against winning teams, both tied for most in the East. They have seen both conference finalists, Miami and Indiana three times. In spite of it all, Toronto is right where Dwane Casey had cautiously hoped they would be; at sea level. "These five games are a crucial stretch of games here at home for us," Casey said ahead of Wednesdays 112-91 victory over the Pistons, a win that got Toronto back to the .500 mark. "Its a very crucial time." Following another daunting road trip, capped off by disappointing but expected losses to the Heat and Pacers, the Raptors schedule finally begins to ease up. Wednesdays meeting with Detroit was the first of four straight against losing teams. Four of their next five are at home and only two of the remaining 12 contests in January come against opponents that went into Wednesdays games with winning records. Casey had spoken about using recent tests against the leagues best as a measuring stick for his emerging team but these upcoming few weeks may tell him more about where they stack up in the Eastern Conference. They must continue to win the games they should. Taking care of the Pistons, one of the Easts talented disasters, was a promising first step. Toronto coughed up an 11-point second-quarter lead in what turned out to be an ugly opening half for both teams. DeMar DeRozan and Amir Johnson combined to shoot 0-of-16 while the team was outscored by 16 points in the paint, outworked by another physical frontline. Lucky to be down only four at the break, the Raptors adjusted going into the second half, where they outscored the visitors 62-37. "We pretty much said, this is a must-win game," Johnson maintained. "We have to go out and take it and we did that." Although they shot just 41 per cent from the field, the Raptors knocked down 11 three-pointers, including five from Terrence Ross, who had 17 points on the night. Toronto improved to 8-2 on the season when connecting on 10 or more three-balls. Kyle Lowry led the team in scoring with 21 too go along with nine assists, Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas both added double-doubles and DeRozan finished with 19 points, 13 of which came from the free throw line.dddddddddddd "We knew it was going to be a grind it out game and thats something were learning to do," Casey added. "Theres no pretty games in the NBA, its a mans league," he continued. "To win in this league, to win in the Eastern Conference especially - I found out in my three years in it - its a mans [conference]. Its a hit, knockdown, drag out [conference] and the strong survive. Were learning how to do that." The Raptors were a different team coming out of the locker room after intermission. They bested the Pistons in the paint - Detroit leads the league in that category - out-rebounded them and imposed their will on a struggling team that has now lost six in a row. After eight lead changes in the first half, there was just one in the second and it was all the Raptors needed to seize control. "Theyre must-win games," Johnson said. "Theyre all home and we need to win those games just to stay at the top of our division. Theyre must-win games and weve got to come out and play hard." With Brooklyn on deck, followed by games against the woeful Bucks and Celtics, the Raptors have to continue to do just that. Theyve got to seize this opportunity. Although Toronto is just 1-5 facing the Pacers and Heat this season, theyre 11-5 against the rest of the conference. Sitting just one game out of third place in the East - after the Horford-less Hawks upset Indiana on Wednesday - the Raptors are now in a position to validate their recent success. They can separate themselves from the heap of mediocrity theyll be facing throughout the duration of the month of they will end up blending in with them. "Theres no reason for any of us to be content or satisfied or be able to be happy about [where we are]," Casey preached. "Weve got to play like a hungry team. Weve got to continue to grow, weve got to continue to have the underdog attitude because thats where we are. " "Were nowhere near an established program. Im not kidding myself, I know what an established program is all about and were not there yet. We have a lot of growth to do with our core group of guys." ' ' '