Rob Ninkovich will retire from the NFL.

Ninkovich has been considering retirement in recent seasons. He entered the NFL as a fifth-round draft choice of the New Orleans Saints in 2006. A Purdue alum, Ninkovich didn't see his NFL career take off until he joined the Patriots as a free agent on Aug. 2, 2009.

Ninkovich was credited with 423 tackles and 46 sacks with the Patriots.

The New England Patriots have a habit of using different running backs in varying situations and this year promises to be no different.

They have a stable of rushers that includes Brandon Bolden, Rex Burkhead, Mike Gillislee, Dion Lewis and James White. Patriots running backs coach Ivan Fears said the team will look for LeGarrette Blount's replacement in camp. Blount scored 18 touchdowns last season.

"Somebody's got to play big for us," Fears said. "We have enough guys who can play finesse football. Somebody's got to play power football for us so we have to find out who's going to do that. I think a lot of those guys are capable of that. Freakin' James White ran the power offense when he was at Wisconsin so, what are we talking about? But he's got to do it for us here. Not just him, but whether it's Mike, whether it's Rex or Brandon Bolden ... somebody's got to step up and be the big back when we need one and all those roles that come up in the game we have to find somebody to fit those roles, and I think we will."

Andrew Hawkins, who signed a one-year deal with the New England Patriots in May, has decided to retire from football.

"After OTAs and through summer training, my body just didn't respond and wasn't feeling the way it should going into camp," the 31-year-old wide receiver said. "Basically it just started breaking down on me."

The Concussion Legacy Foundation says Hawkins has pledged his brain for research into CTE.

Hawkins was trying to crack a crowded wide receiver depth chart, with Julian Edelman, Brandin Cooks, Chris Hogan, Malcolm Mitchell and Danny Amendola.

Pittsburgh Steelers rookie James Conner ranks No. 2 among all NFL players on the Dick's Sporting Goods' jersey report behind Tom Brady.

Conner captivated college football by overcoming Hodgkin lymphoma in 2015 while at Pitt.

The Steelers drafted the playmaker in the third round, No. 105 overall.

"It's a dream come true," Conner said about staying in Pittsburgh. "They gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, and they are going to get a hard worker and a great football player."

Julian Edelman doesn't like hearing talk that the New England Patriots could go undefeated this season.

Edelman called the speculation "stupid" when asked about it by the Boston Herald.

"You can't worry about what other people say, honestly. I mean, there's no script to this thing. There's no camera. This isn't Hollywood. This is real life," the wide receiver said. "When you go out and play in the National Football League, it's one of those things where it's even stupid to think about that. It's never been done. You don't really want to talk about it.

"My focus is more on trying to get ready for the season, trying to learn your teammates, form your identity. [The 19-0 talk is] stupid. That's it."

Tom Brady will release a conditioning and nutrition book this September.

Simon & Schuster announced Thursday that it has acquired the rights to Brady's book, which will be called "The TB12 Method: How To Achieve A Lifetime Of Sustained Peak Performance."

The publisher said that the 320-page book will be "a gorgeously illustrated and deeply practical 'athlete's bible' that reveals Brady's revolutionary approach to sustained peak performance for athletes of all kinds and of all ages."

Tom Brady has finally addressed comments his wife, Gisele Bundchen, made six weeks ago about the quarterback suffering concussions.

In May, Gisele said Brady "had a concussion last year." The New England Patriots never listed him on the injury report with one, nor was it reported.

"She's there every day," Brady told ESPN's Kevin Negandhi. "I mean, we go to bed in the same bed every night, so I think she knows when I'm sore, she knows when I'm tired, she knows when I get hit. We drive home together [from games]. But, she also knows how well I take care of myself. She's a very concerned wife and very loving."