TC 2010: West Recap Day #3

June 09, 2010
BCLions.com Staff

KAMLOOPS, BC — Under glorious conditions in Kamloops, the BC Lions took to the field at Hillside Stadium for their fifth and sixth practices of 2010 training camp.

Despite the aches and pains, GM and head coach Wally Buono has expressed his pleasure with the level of intensity demonstrated by both veterans and newcomers. In fact, to reward his charges, Buono has taken his foot of the practice pedal and canceled the morning session for Wednesday and will instead go with one workout in the afternoon beginning at 4:00 pm.

PRACTICE NOTES: Pretty even battles between defensive backs and receivers during the morning go around with Matt Chapdelaine making a couple of nice grabs along with Geroy Simon showing Darren Toney that his off-season workout regiment has him in mid-season form very early on. Not to be outdone however, safeties Tad Crawford and J.R. LaRose took turns delivering blows to a rather perturbed Emmanuel Arceneaux.

With the CFL’s announcement regarding the new helmet communication system coming down this morning, there was plenty of interest in speaking to Lions’ offensive coordinator Jacques Chapdelaine who was kind enough to provide a demonstration.

With rumours swirling regarding the cancellation of Wednesday’s morning practice, the intensity of the afternoon go-around was crisp with both sides of the ball making progress under the watchful eyes of the coaching staff. Of particular note was the play of running back Jamal Robertson who caught everything thrown his way out of the backfield and consistently found the hole during the inside run period.

DISAGREEMENTS: Day three was void of anything substantial in terms of physical disagreements but a debate regarding the superiority of deep-fried turkey versus traditional oven-baked turkey erupted when it was discovered turkey was on the menu Tuesday. TEAM 1410’s Giulio Caravatta declared all variations of cooked turkey to be equally delicious.

WATCHING: Solomon Elimimian (hamstring), Richard Jones (hamstring), Robert Jordan (ankle, sick) Anton McKenzie (hamstring), Steve Williams (groin). Paris Jackson left the morning practice at the mid-way point and returned later to watch. He was held out of the afternoon session as a precaution.

FOOD FARE: Lunch at Thompson Rivers University consisted of pasta, with a choice of meat or veggie sauce along with salad and desserts. Dinner was the aforementioned turkey dinner (oven baked).

QUOTABLE: “Some guys are gonna be on a plane outta here if they don’t start paying attention to what we’re telling you” – Lions defensive line coach Rich Stubler.

NEXT UP: Wednesday, June 9 – one session (4:00 pm – 6:00 pm)

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Esks.com Staff

EDMONTON — The quarterbacks had a chance to test the new Coach-to-Quarterback helmets today. The one-way radio unit was introduced by the CFL this morning to help improve the flow of the game and the communication to the quarterbacks. The headsets allow the coaches to communicate with the quarterbacks in between plays. Each team will be equipped with three units, one for each quarterback, with only one allowed to be active at one time. Eleven year CFL veteran Jason Maas is quite impressed with the new equipment. “It’s good that we’re using the technology. It just takes some getting used to having someone talking in your ear.”

Guest coach and former Eskimo receiver Rick Walters was going back in time today while helping out with some of the quarterback drills. The QBs were practicing their foot work with a drill that consisted of them having to dodge exercise balls thrown at them and to throw to the target; the target being Rick Walters. He looked a little rusty on the first few but after one pass almost hit equipment assistant Joey Moss in the face, Rick didn’t let one get by him again.

Edmonton Sun Eskimo beat writer Gerry Moddejonge got caught up in a little bit of football action on the sidelines today. During team drills, a receiver and defensive back went crashing into the Grey Cup media scrum landing directly on the 6’6”, 240 pound reporter, who instead of crashing to the ground stopped the players dead in their tracks and proceeded to look down on them as they got back to their feet.

Practice was busy for the Eskimo media department as they assisted with the 3rd Annual Fill the Stadium for the Stollery press conference. Representatives from the Edmonton Police Service, the Edmonton Fire Department and the Stollery Children’s Hospital were on hand to announce that tickets are on sale for the event. On Saturday, July 31st at Clarke Field, the EPS flag football team will take on the EFD team in a friendly match and all money raised from ticket sales will go directly to the Stollery Children’s Hospital. Tickets are now on sale at the Eskimo Team Store (9023-111ave), United Cycle (10323-78 ave) and the Second Cup on 109st and Jasper Ave. Fans can purchase singles for $10 each or $20 for a family of three or more. Visit [url]www.stolleryfootballgame.com for more information.

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Stampeders.com Staff

CALGARY — Quarterback Zac Champion, a former member of the BC Lions, took part in his first workout with the Red and White.

“It was a little bumpy today because it was my first day, but I’m excited to be here and to compete,” said Champion, a native of Birmingham, Ala. “I was just sitting at home hoping somebody would give me a shot. It was one of those things where you just never know. They called me and I basically shot up here the next day. It was that quick. I was surprised but excited.”

Another new face on the field Tuesday was receiver Matt Lambros. McMahon Stadium is a familiar place for Lambros, a Calgary native and Sir Winston Churchill High School alumnus.

“It’s nice to be back running around again and it’s nice to be back in my home city,” said Lambros, who was released by the Toronto Argonauts last week. “Practising on the field I grew up attending games at is something else.”

Lambros was a second-round pick of the Boatmen in 2009 and played three games in his rookie season before suffering a season-ending injury. The joint is healed now and he says he’s looking forward to contributing any way he can to his hometown club.

A year ago, offensive lineman Jon Gott was a rookie trying to get his bearings in the pro ranks. As a sophomore, he’s much more comfortable.

“It does make a difference because I understand the offence a lot better than last year coming into camp,” said Gott, a Lethbridge Collegiate Institude and Boise State alumnus. “It’s coming to me a lot easier and it’s coming back a lot quicker, too. So yeah, it’s a lot better camp than last year. It’s just nice to be back for my second season with the Stampeders.

While some first-year players get no further than the practice roster, Gott saw action in eight regular-season games plus the West Final.

In other news, the CFL on Tuesday announced that the league is introducing radio-in-helmet technology for use in games.

Stamps head coach and general manager John Hufnagel says the team is ready for the introduction of the technology.

“We have a one-game advantage because (previously) during a pre-season game against Edmonton, we experimented with the headsets for the league,” he said. “Everything went smoothly. I know that Dave Dickenson the play-caller is thrilled about having the headset because before, we communicated with signals and this makes it a lot easier.”

PLAY OF THE DAY: Second-year running back Derek Watson ripped through a small hole in the line to turn in a very impressive run during the morning practice.

TRANSACTIONS: The Stamps added quarterback Zac Champion, non-import receiver Matt Lambros and import defensive lineman Mike Landry. Import defensive back Mike Mickens was released.

INJURIES: Import defensive linemen Eugene Kinlaw (knee) and Derrick Gray (hip), import defensive back Ronnie Amadi (quad), import receiver P.K. Sam (cold), non-import receiver Johnny Forzani (hamstring), import defensive back Jason Horton (chest) and import linebacker Chris Bowens (migraine) did not practice and are day-to-day. Receivers Ryan Thelwell (Achilles), Ken-Yon Rambo (knee) and Ron Kelly (hip) and linebacker Marc Calixte (knee) remain on the disabled list.

SCHEDULE: The Stamps are on the field for two sessions on Wednesday, June 9. Practices run from 9:05 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. to 6 p.m.

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Riderville.com Staff

REGINA — While under heavy pressure, veteran quarterback Darian Durant connected with running back Wes Cates down the middle for a touchdown pass for the offensive play of the day. Defensive back Chris McKenzie and linebacker Tad Kornegay each grabbed an interception on the defensive side.

TONIGHT: Players will meet with coaches and continue learning the playbook at Luther College.

TOMORROW: Players and coaches will once again hit the practice field at Mosaic Stadium for Day 4 of training camp with two practice sessions beginning at 8:15 am.

ROSTER MOVES:

DELETE QB Todd Reesing

INJURIES:

WR Rob Bagg (hamstring) day to day
DB Willie Byrd (foot) day to day
DB Lance Frazier (foot) day to day
DL Brent Hawkins (knee) day to day
DB LaDarius Key (calf) day to day
DB Sean Lucas (hamstring) day to day
DL Josh Miller (shoulder) day to day
DL Luc Mullinder (foot) day to day
DB Brandon Register (groin) day to day
WR Prechae Rodriguez (groin) day to day
LB Kye Stewart (knee) day to day
WR Aaron Waldie (hamstring) day to day