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."
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.“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.”
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.