SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Ron Rivera cant imagine the Carolina Panthers without fullback like Mike Tolbert on the roster.The 5-foot-9, 250-pound Tolbert does a little of everything for the NFC champions -- blocks, catches passes, carries the ball and even contributes on special teams. So its hard for Rivera to fathom how nearly one-third of the league didnt even carry a fullback on their rosters last season.I couldnt tell you why teams dont, Rivera said. I think that is one of the missing links in the league to be able to have an effective running game, to have lead blockers and guys who can get dirty down inside.It has worked for Rivera and the Panthers.The Panthers have run for at least 100 yards in an NFL-best 32 straight games, including the playoffs. They were second in the league in rushing last season and first in scoring and reached the Super Bowl before losing 24-10 to the Denver Broncos.That success is why the Panthers didnt hesitate to re-sign the 30-year-old Tolbert to a two-year, $3.3 million contract after he became an unrestricted free agent. All things considered the Panthers might have gotten a bargain for a guy who has been an All-Pro two of the last three seasons.Then again, its not as though fullbacks are the Pokemon Go of the NFL.The Miami Dolphins are among the teams that dont employ a true fullback.Dolphins coach Adam Gase said after careful consideration the team decided they couldnt afford the luxury of having a specialty position like fullback on the roster.Where we kind of ran into the problem was that we liked staying on the ball, we didnt like changing personnel and we always liked the fact of having a guy that could play the fullback role (but) still be a guy that we could flex out plus play in-line, Gase said. Were really being a little pickier as far as we want a guy that can do it all, and then play special teams as well.We didnt want to get stuck in a spot where we had some experience with a fullback when we were first at Denver and he was getting like eight plays a game. We just felt like lets get the guy out there that is going to play 30 plays a game on just offense, plus special teams.The Jacksonville Jaguars stopped carrying a fullback prior to the 2015 season after they hired offensive coordinator Greg Olson to replace Jedd Fisch.Olsons offense simply doesnt use one, relying on backs to find holes and using more multiple tight end sets up front.We dont use one in any of our offensive sets so no sense in carrying one if were not going to use one, Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell said.Some teams are reincorporating the fullback into the offense.The Philadelphia Eagles have gone back to using a traditional style running game following the departure of coach Chip Kelly. Theyve moved tight end Trey Burton to fullback.But the importance of the position has been undeniably downgraded.A lot of the game nowadays is predicated around the quarterback, said Tolbert. You try to develop him first as a passer, where as in the old days it was more about the run game and defense. Its not that way anymore.Tolbert collected 256 yards rushing and 154 yards receiving last season for the Panthers and scored four touchdowns.He also played on most of the special teams.Tolbert said the key to surviving is changing with the tide and remaining versatile, knowing well that the days of true smash-mouth fullbacks like Lorenzo Neal, Daryl Johnston and Tom Rathman may be over for good.You have to do special teams and pass protect and block out of the backfield and run routes, Tolbert said. You have to be able to do different things than in the past, more than just being a bang-your-head-against-the-wall fullback.---AP Sports writers Mark Long in Jacksonville, Florida, Steven Wine in Miami and Rob Maaddi in Philadelphia contributed to this report.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFLAir Max Belgique . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Air Max Pas Cher Livraison Rapide . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. http://www.airmaxpascher.be/ .J. -- Marshawn Lynch said Thursday it will be good to get back to football after the Seattle quiet talking running back wrapped up his final mandatory media session of Super Bowl week. Magasin Air Max Belgique . Ivanovic was leading 7-5, 1-0 when Hantuchova withdrew after falling 0-40 behind in the second game. The match started slowly for Ivanovic, who surrendered her first two serves as Hantuchova took a 5-3 lead. Air Max Pas Cher En Ligne . PAUL, Minn.ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Four days after shutting down work at the Olympic drug test laboratory in Rio de Janeiro, the World Anti-Doping Agency said it has suspended another lab, this time in Kazakhstan.WADA said on Tuesday that the lab in Almaty had its accreditation suspended from last Friday for four months as a direct result of the more stringent quality assessment procedures enacted by WADA.WADA did not say how exactly the Almaty lab failed to pass such an assessment.As well as announcing a suspension for the Rio lab also last Friday, a move which plunged Olympic drug testing into uncertainty, WADA has also suspended labs in China, Spain, South Africa, and Portugal this year.The lab in Moscow lost its accreditation altogether aafter accusations its former director helped to cover up doping by Russian athletes, sparking a round of new checks at other labs worldwide.ddddddddddddThe Almaty lab reportedly opened in 2003 and is one of the lesser-known of the 35 labs approved worldwide by WADA. Last week, Kazakhstan Prime Minister Karim Masimov was quoted by local media as ordering officials to find private sponsors to finance an upgrade of the facilities.That came shortly after four Kazakh gold medalists in weightlifting from the 2012 Olympics were announced to have failed retests of their samples. They stand to lose their medals. ' ' '