Moderator: Team Captains
No way it can be as funny as Angus' Roy Shivers impression-dear LORD that's funny!ed_lunsford wrote:And did anyone else happen to catch Travis Lulay's Wally Buono impression?
"Just throw it to the open guy, throw to Geroy, see, it is easy, just throw it to the open man"
Hopefully Lulay does it again sometime because it is quite funny...
Thanks, DanoT. Keep the reports coming. I won't be able to get there until next weekend.DanoT wrote:I was at yesterday's morning practice. Peterson was mostly lining up as a right side wide out and didn't appear to me to have any limp. P. Jackson was in shorts and sweat shirt and did some stationary bike and jogged around the track a couple of times with a slight limp.
Much appreciated, and looking forward to some observations.korey&dante4ever wrote:Just about to head to Kamloops for the weekend!!.. Going to go to all sessions is the plan.. mix some golf in sunday morning!... I hope to post some observations when I get back sun. night
LinkHamstring injuries win the day
Wally Buono tried to battle attrition and lost Saturday.
The Lions coach/GM called off practice in the morning, citing injuries to five different defensive backs. The list grew longer as the team hit the field in the afternoon, when Dante Marsh was sidelined. The cornerback, according to eyewitness accounts, threw down his helmet and was taken off in a cart in considerable pain. A club spokesman said Marsh had joined a long list of hamstring injuries but would be re-evaluated further Sunday.
KAMLOOPS, B.C. — They play for jobs at the B.C. Lions training camp, but they also play for job security — and what head coach Wally Buono is doing for motivation is occasionally being taken by some players as a slap in the face.
A pair of veterans in the defensive secondary, Dante Marsh and Ryan Phillips, aren’t even sure they want to continue playing for the CFL club beyond this season. Marsh and Phillips are among nine players who are going into the option year of their contracts and are upset they weren’t among 10 of their teammates who had deals extended over the winter.
Buono vowed he would be more judicious handing out longer deals after the Lions finished 8-10 for the second straight year, and made it quite clear during the winter that those who didn’t receive extensions were being given a message.
Defensive backs Korey Banks, Davis Sanchez and Stanley Franks all had deals redone. Two starting teammates in the secondary, among others, didn’t. It had Marsh so steamed at one point he asked for his release.
“I’m going to be professional this year but a part of you feels like you should play the year out and go somewhere else,” said the 32-year-old two-time divisional all-star, who was told in January the club was considering whether to release him.
“At the end of the day I was kind of told it was motivation.”
Buono said it was also motivation which was behind a decision to initially ask kicker Paul McCallum to take a pay cut after last season, but ended up keeping the 19-year veteran and trading Sean Whyte. Buono, who usually weeds out at least one veteran in the off-season, cut 32-year-old lineman Sherko Haji-Rasouli around the time of the Marsh phone call.
Phillips, 28, has come to accept a discussion about his play as motivation but it would seem clear some issues remain.
“I had a conversation with (Buono) and he said he could easily replace me with two free agents. I’m not going to lie, I wanted to hang up in his face,” the seven-year veteran said. “I’m not going to say it was a slap in the face but it was a reality check for me.”
Veteran players often seek extensions for a variety of reasons, including getting sizable salary payments as bonuses which are assessed differently for taxation.
Five other potential starters, including Paris Jackson, Anton McKenzie, Jon Hameister-Ries and Aaron Hunt, are all heading into their option year and take varying positions whether the Lions are purposely excluding them so far in an effort to improve.
“I was going to work for (an extension) anyway,” said Hunt.
Buono says he does extension deals with players who don’t look for large pay increases, and in some cases has waited until the midway point of the season before assessing whether to make an offer before the start of free agency Feb. 15.
“Last year we tried to give a lot of players some security to create a better environment. It didn’t work out. There’s nothing to be afraid of if you go out and do your job,” he said.
“Do you expect us to open the vault for everybody? We’re paying some players at positions higher than the norm and we’re not getting that out of them.”
But at least two veteran players feel their loyalty to the Lions is being challenged, and their determined look through the first week of training camp is easy to spot. Job security is just as important as the job itself.
It’s a moot point for the time being with Marsh, who suffered a hamstring injury on the weekend and won’t play in the pre-season opener Wednesday against Calgary at the very least, Buono said.
Both insist the off-season issues won’t affect their play. It’s the time between games which still stings a little.
“I never missed a game in seven years. I don’t give you any problems,” said Phillips. “I’m out here on my own now.”
Is the quarterbacking in safe hands?
There's certainly no drama, and there has been comparisons drawn from last year, when Casey Printers could miss a practice and instant dispatches spread across cyberspace.
Travis Lulay looks and acts like a starter. The difference in the throwing motion of Jarious Jackson compared to last year, when he was labouring, is noticeable. (Wally Buono admitted the other day he was "unfair" to Jackson when he made him start a game last year).
The battle for roster status behind the two is not complete. Mike Reilly had the early edge but of the two rookies behind him Corey Leonard (Arkansas State) seems to have a better understanding, though Matt Johnson (Bethune-Cookman) is a better scrambler and makes a hot throw with accuracy.
What is the strength of the Lions this year?
Hands down, its the secondary, though you think back to the playoff loss in Saskatchewan and realize this is basically the same group and wonder if that is a good thing.
Fact is, no group has a better understanding of each other than these guys. They're also fun to hear them snipe at the offence and each other. Only issue would seem to be how to use David Hyland, who is being worked at virtually every spot in the backfield. And that answer may become obvious when a firm diagnosis on Dante Marsh becomes available.
Five burning questionsIs everything really set on the offensive line?
Buono says it is, but appearances are to the contrary. There's a regular rotation at right guard between Jesse Newman, who had the job at the start of camp, Andrew Jones and Dean Valli. That might suggest the Lions have made a call but want to make sure. Word is Valli has moved past Newman, pending pre-season play. The player deemed more versatile among Jones and Justin Sorensen might figure to be the one who'll continue with the Lions, as one veteran likely will still have to go.
joe kapp22 wrote:LU is reporting Messum has been asked to leave camp and will be suspended.
more to follow to be sure.
