Kamloops Training Camp 2017

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B.C.FAN
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Training camp Day 2
Monday, May 29, 2017 - morning session


Day 2 of training camp opened with another light walkthru under the hot Kamloops sun. Receivers Chris Williams and Shaq Johnson remained on the sidelines, riding the bikes and doing a bit of light work. Williams ran a few routes on his own in the corner of the end zone. At first he was slow and deliberate with his cuts but he seemed to get quicker as he gained confidence. That's an encouraging sign but I don't expect him back on the field soon.

I've attended a lot of training camps over the past 50 years, but this is the most laid-back start I've ever seen, with no offence vs. defence drills, hardly a pass being thrown and nothing run at full speed except a couple of punting drills. At least there's little danger of any new injuries such as those that have plagued past camps.

Wally explained the change in philosophy to Matt Baker of bclions.com on Sunday:
“Part of what we’re trying to do the first two days is a lot of installation, a lot of teaching and getting the players used to the rigours of being on their feet for 5-6 hours."
“The players will get a lot of information, they’ll have time to digest it, they’ll have time to review it both on the field, in the meeting room and watching tape. The fifth practice (Tuesday morning) we’ll be able to go against the offence and go against the defence.”
With that, there's not much to report. There is still no official depth chart but the offensive and defensive rotations were the same as on Sunday. The offence ran some four-receiver sets on Monday, with Rolly Lumbala as an H-back. The four first-team receivers are Corey Jones (in Chris Williams' spot), Manny Arceneaux, Bryan Burnham and Marco Iannuzzi. Stephen Adekolu is the fifth receiver, usually lining up as field wideout, with Iannuzzi moving to outside slot.

I can't say anything about the abilities of Corey Jones as a receiver in the event that Williams doesn't come back by the start of the regular season. I've yet to see him run or catch, other than in a few light drills.

Swayze Waters took all reps on the convert and field goal team today and appeared to be hitting the ball well. There were no punting drills but the team practised punt and field goal coverage. It's always enlightening to watch these drills in camp. The Lions don't want to invest the time and effort in having players learn the nuances of punt and field goal coverage from Dan Dorazio if those players aren't going to be around in two week.

The main punt coverage unit consisted of Jason Arakgi, Rolly Lumbala, Adrian Clarke, Jordan Herdman, Maxx Forde, David Menard, Craig Roh, Junior Luke, Bryant Turner Jr. and Dylan Ainsworth.

The field goal coverage unit included Arakgi, Lumbala, Menard, Turner Jr. and Ainsworth in addition to long snapper Mike Benson and most of the starting O-line. It's a safe bet that all those players will be on the opening-day roster.

With no full-speed drills, the highlight of the day was Dorazio barking instructions to the punt and field-goal coverage unit and demonstrating how to fall, roll and get up, particularly when he yelled "Get your ass to the sideline" to Swayze Waters to protect against a wide return. It sounds much better to hear it in Dorazio's voice than to read it here.

Another walkthru is planned for Monday afternoon. We'll be there to pick up whatever information we can.
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DanoT
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Nice report B.C. Fan.

What's up with Nick Moore?
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B.C.FAN wrote:
Mon May 29, 2017 11:05 am
With no full-speed drills, the highlight of the day was Dorazio barking instructions to the punt and field-goal coverage unit and demonstrating how to fall, roll and get up, particularly when he yelled "Get your ass to the sideline" to Swayze Waters to protect against a wide return. It sounds much better to hear it in Dorazio's voice than to read it here.

Another walkthru is planned for Monday afternoon. We'll be there to pick up whatever information we can.
For all the criticism Dorazio gets I find one of the really fun things to watch at camp is him running players through drills especially when he takes the OL off to that other field behind the end zone. Here's this skinny little guy getting right into it hollering instructions to the hoggies all of whom probably have craps bigger than Dorazio in the morning. :wink:
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B.C.FAN
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DanoT wrote:
Mon May 29, 2017 1:14 pm
Nice report B.C. Fan.

What's up with Nick Moore?
Not much. He seems relaxed and jovial, and just as smooth as ever, but it's disappointing to see how his stock appears to have fallen through his injury-plagued career. He was Geroy's successor as the Lions' featured slotback, and had a career year in 2013 with 73 catches for 1,105 yards before being lured to Winnipeg in free agency for a reported $175,000 a year.

He has always put up good numbers when healthy but he has appeared in only 28 of 54 games in the past three seasons with Winnipeg and B.C. I hope he has a cap-friendly contract. I can see him sticking on the 46-man roster and being a game-day scratch if the starters are healthy, but he would be vulnerable to being squeezed out by a rookie who impresses in training camp and has a cheaper contract.

I would much rather see Moore starting at the outside slot position than Marco Iannuzzi if the ratio can be addressed by having a national starter on the defensive line. The Lions' hopes for a high-powered offence fade rapidly if Manny Arceneaux and Bryan Burnham are the only healthy international veteran receivers in the lineup.
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David
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B.C.FAN wrote:
Mon May 29, 2017 11:05 am
I've attended a lot of training camps over the past 50 years, but this is the most laid-back start I've ever seen, with no offence vs. defence drills, hardly a pass being thrown and nothing run at full speed except a couple of punting drills. At least there's little danger of any new injuries such as those that have plagued past camps.
Great report B.C.FAN. I know there's not much to report, but thanks! :beauty:

Yea, it does seem a little odd that they're starting with 2 days of walk-throughs when you consider they have exactly 7 days to prepare for their first pre-season game (in Edmonton). I mean, I could understand starting so slowly if the weather was really bad and there was a risk of soft-tissue injuries, but the conditions seem ideal out there, if a little hot.

BTW, do you know if there are any 'no-shows' (i.e. guys put on the suspended list - either a change of heart or passport issues)?


DH :cool:
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BC DEL INT Kalliy CEESAY (DB) Eastern Oregon University
BC TRF TO SUSPENDED INT Adrian BELLARD (OL) Texas State
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Gridiron Ernie
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David -- I'll chime in, since I just now happened to see at "Team/Transactions" (via Lions' website) that OL Adrian Bellard (International) is listed as "suspended" (off course there's no details provided there as to why). Plus, for what it's worth -- they've released DB Kalliy Ceesay. over and out
(ha! -- sorry... just noticed aklawitter and I were on the same page (so to speak).
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Gridiron Ernie
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Just noticed (at Lions' website) article indicating Anthony Gaitor is back with us, as of today. If I recall, he was pretty impressive last season.
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Anthony Gaitor returns and re signs today and will be on the field this afternoon. This is good news.
http://www.bclions.com/2017/05/29/lions ... ny-gaitor/
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Gridiron Ernie wrote:
Mon May 29, 2017 4:30 pm
Just noticed (at Lions' website) article indicating Anthony Gaitor is back with us, as of today. If I recall, he was pretty impressive last season.
That probably explains the quick release of Ceesay.
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B.C.FAN
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Hambone wrote:
Mon May 29, 2017 4:48 pm
Gridiron Ernie wrote:
Mon May 29, 2017 4:30 pm
Just noticed (at Lions' website) article indicating Anthony Gaitor is back with us, as of today. If I recall, he was pretty impressive last season.
That probably explains the quick release of Ceesay.
That explains all the jovial hugging and handshakes I saw at the end of Monday afternoon practice. Anthony Thompson has been wearing Gaitor's old No. 23 until this afternoon. I couldn't figure out why his teammates were so happy to see him. I guess Thompson will take another number (rookie fourth-round draft pick Nate Hamlin has been wearing his old No. 28). They didn't give out rosters in the stands today and still haven't issued a depth chart so it's easy to get confused.

As for the suspension of Adrian Bellard, I overheard that a player was away at a wedding but was expected back. I assume that's Bellard. A suspension would be normal in that case.
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B.C.FAN
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Training camp Day 2
Monday, May 29, 2017 - afternoon session


I counted 83 players in uniform on the field for Monday afternoon practice, one less than on Sunday and not counting receivers Chris Williams and Shaq Johnson, who again did light workouts on the sideline. Both did some running and Johnson caught a few passes there, so those are positive signs.

As with all three previous practices of camp, the fourth session was another light walkthru but we got to see a few passes thrown for the first time, as the QBs and receivers practised some short and intermediate combination routes, with one QB throwing to the short receiver and another to the one running the intermediate route. All five QBs threw the ball accurately and with authority. Travis Lulay's arm looked just as strong as that of the other QBs, which is not something that could be said in many previous years. McGill QB Frederic Paquette-Perrault, taking part in camp under the CFL's quarterback internship program, got some extra work in another passing drill and threw the ball well.

The offence spent most of the afternoon walking through plays, with more focus on the run game. Jeremiah Johnson looks to still have the burst and quickness that we saw last year and did a lot of running but we'll see what happens Tuesday when the offence faces the defence for the first time.

For those wondering about David Foucault, he is backing up Hunter Steward at LT and is the extra lineman brought in on the jumbo team so he seems to at least be assured of a spot as the sixth lineman.

There was more focus on punt protection and coverage at the afternoon practice but, strangely, neither kicker was asked to punt the ball. Instead the punters took the snap and "kicks" were launched from the JUGS machine. Chris Rainey, Tyler Davis and Shaq Murray-Lawrence were the returners .

Swayze Waters again did all placekicking, and appeared to be purrfect on 32-yard converts, sailing the ball straight through the end zone each time. Wally watches the kicking game closely and had a stopwatch on the snaps and holds, with Travis Lulay and Jonathon Jennings taking turns holding. Everything seemed to go smoothly. I don't know what this means for rookie kicker Ty Long, who looked good on Sunday and didn't take one kick Monday.

Finally, about 90 minutes into the fourth practice of training camp, I realized I hadn't noticed Tony Burnett at all. I had to look up his number (26). He was standing across from the starting defence but not doing much, and I didn't notice him on special teams. For a player who was brought in with some fanfare in 2014 and expected to start, then signed as a free agent this spring, I expected him to be more visible. Cam Ontko has taken all first-team reps at weakside linebacker, which is not unexpected, but I expected Burnett to at least be a contender for dimeback. With the return of Anthony Gaitor discussed above and with free-agent DB Buddy Jackson getting first-team reps until now at Ryan Phillips' old position, that window appears to have closed.
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WestCoastJoe
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Great reports, BCFAN, even on a "quiet" day. Three posts in one day, keeping us up to date and informed. :thup:

This business of going easy ... What is too easy? What is too tough? Coaches have run the gamut, trying it every which way. If guys are going to get dinged, it can happen under a heavy load or light. I don't seem to recall guys getting more injured under Vic Rapp, but they certainly did seem to run out of steam as the season progressed (some of that could even have been from mental stress, as Rapp was a high pressure guy). Don Matthews was more of an easy rider, but his guys definitely came to play. Bum Phillips of the Houston Oilers was one of the early practitioners of no hitting in practice, but they hit like gangbusters in games, as exemplified by Robert Brazile. What Wally is doing is more of the modern way. Hey, it ain't all old school.

Going back in the day, I have read in Sports Illustrated of some horrific practice routines even at the high school level. BTW, one of the all time great sports writers, Frank Deford just passed away. Wrote some beautiful stuff. Many awards earned. God Bless. :thup:
.................

We seem to have all the makin's, although this fan still wonders if we are somewhat undersized in the DL.

Just IMO. Others' memories or opinions may differ.
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Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

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TheLionKing
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Gridiron Ernie wrote:
Mon May 29, 2017 4:30 pm
Just noticed (at Lions' website) article indicating Anthony Gaitor is back with us, as of today. If I recall, he was pretty impressive last season.
Well that was a quick tryout
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