Training camp 2023

[Qman]

The Lions released 9 American players Wednesday to get down to the league-mandated limit of 75 plus non-counters. The biggest name was running back Raymond Calais, who won a Super Bowl ring as a kick returner with the L.A. Rams. That leaves Taquan Mizzell, Antonio Williams and Buddy Howell as the remaining contenders for the starting running back position.

The BC Lions this morning announced the following players have been released from the training camp roster:

American kicker Cesar Barajas
American defensive back Elijah Benton
American wide receiver Cole Blackman
American running back Raymond Calais
American linebacker Robert Holt
American offensive lineman Quinn Oseland
American wide receiver Kevin Shaa
American defensive back Tre Webb
American linebacker Henry Yianakopolos

They will keep two RBs. One one active roster and 1game (healthy scratch) the backup. At least, that’s what they did last year.

[Hambone]

They will keep two RBs. One one active roster and 1game (healthy scratch) the backup. At least, that’s what they did last year.

Agreed. They're a lock to do that especially given the primary KR is a receiver. Even when the primary KR was a RB by trade they usually kept another RB on the PR in case an injury took somebody out. Currently they only have the 3 American tailbacks and 2 Canadian fullbacks. 4 of those 5 are pretty much guaranteed to be on the 46 or PR come week 1.

[B.C.FAN]

Dangerously high levels of wildfire smoke descended on Kamloops Wednesday and forced the Lions' scheduled afternoon practice to be rescheduled as an indoor walkthrough, with no fans permitted. The smoke is expected to linger through Thursday, threatening a second straight afternoon practice. This is reminiscent of the 2021 training camp, which ended early amid lingering high levels of smoke. I hope the skies clear up before FanFest on the weekend.

[Hambone]

Dangerously high levels of wildfire smoke descended on Kamloops Wednesday and forced the Lions' scheduled afternoon practice to be rescheduled as an indoor walkthrough, with no fans permitted. The smoke is expected to linger through Thursday, threatening a second straight afternoon practice. This is reminiscent of the 2021 training camp, which ended early amid lingering high levels of smoke. I hope the skies clear up before FanFest on the weekend.

Eek! I'm leaving PG in the morning to as usual be your TC wingman starting with tomorrow afternoon's practice. Things were quite smoky here yesterday. Still smoky today but not as bad. I was hoping it was much clearer skies down there.

[Toppy Vann]

BC Fan - that's another great report full of insights and astute observations.

Adams had a tough time moving the ball against the first-team defence, unlike rookie camp where he found open receivers all over the field.

It's hard when the DEF knows what's coming to be brilliant but what's sounds promising is the back up competition.

I'd find it hard to not see Dane Evans in the no. 2 role as Davis for sure will do shortage again - I think0 but ideally I'd love to see (but won't) the WPG system last year with 3 QBs and plays designed for their strengths.

[Gridiron Ernie]

I wonder if the Lions will show any interest in just-released Argo (national) long-snapper Max Latour. The Argo apparently decided to go with their recent 2nd round draft pick instead of Latour. I don't recall that the Argos were suffering through inconsistencies with Latour last year, but can't say for certain. Given what B.C.FAN has been witnessing at TC, Latour might be worth a try out.

[Hambone]

Latour could be worth a look given reports from Kamloops. However his resume is fairly meh. He's pretty much been a Plan B or band-aid solution in his stops.

He was draft eligible in 2018 but went undrafted. He finally signed with Montreal with the season 2/3 over and was cut 5 weeks later. having never played a game. Montreal would re-sign him in the offseason but cut him before the 2019 season began.

Winnipeg signed him in Sept 2019 after losing LS Chad Rempel to an injury. Rempel returned after one game and Latour was put on the PR. Rempel went down again late in the season allowing Latour to play the final 2 games of the season and WSF before he went down himself.

His contract would run out after the cancelled 2020 season. A month into the 2021 season he signed with Ottawa. 4 weeks later having lost their LS Jake Reinhart the Argos plucked him off the REDBLACKS PR. He played 6 games in TO.

After the 2021 season his rights returned to Ottawa. They didn't re-sign him making him a FA in Feb 2022. He finally signed with Toronto in Aug 2022 and would play 11 games for the Argos.

[B.C.FAN]

I just got word from the Lions that Thursday's scheduled practice has been moved up by an hour, to 2:30-4:20 p.m. At 2:00 they'll check the air quality report and decide whether to move inside. If they do, it would be to a place off-site with no fan access. Wednesday's practice was changed to a walkthrough at the Tournament Capital Centre, also with no fan access.

UPDATE: Indoor closed practice confirmed for Thursday. I told Matt Baker I'll look forward to whatever recap he and the Lions' communication team can provide.

[Gridiron Ernie]

Tough situation for the team, with the wildfires smoke/dangerous air quality. Plus no fan access at the indoor walk-through site makes it an all round bummer, for those of us dependent on B.C.FAN (and potential company) for reports. The daily Matt Baker (with all due respect) video recaps tend to be skimpy overviews--for Day 4 coming in at a grand total of 2 minutes, with a10-second bit from Ryan Philips, and another 10-second bit from Dane Evans. Hardly the relatively detailed meaty portions that B.C.FAN has been serving up so far. Appreciated none the less.

[Gridiron Ernie]

I was going to say, B.C.FAN, I don't know your entire skill-set; could you perhaps don a disguise and manage an impersonation of Lowell Ullrich, thereby gaining legit access? Desperate time, desperate measures.

[B.C.FAN]

I was going to say, B.C.FAN, I don't know your entire skill-set; could you perhaps don a disguise and manage an impersonation of Lowell Ullrich, thereby gaining legit access? Desperate time, desperate measures.

Haha. I miss the old days when beat reporters attended training camp. I worked with Lowell for many years. I used to hide from him while using vacation time to attend camp, and Lowell used to hide from Mike Beamish when they were competing on the beat. Now reporters can sit at home and do Zoom interviews with select players and coaches without ever attending practice.

[Hambone]

Tough situation for the team, with the wildfires smoke/dangerous air quality. Plus no fan access at the indoor walk-through site makes it an all round bummer, for those of us dependent on B.C.FAN (and potential company) for reports. The daily Matt Baker (with all due respect) video recaps tend to be skimpy overviews--for Day 4 coming in at a grand total of 2 minutes, with a10-second bit from Ryan Philips, and another 10-second bit from Dane Evans. Hardly the relatively detailed meaty portions that B.C.FAN has been serving up so far. Appreciated none the less.

It's been a tough go for all West Div clubs except maybe for Winnipeg. Sounds like the Riders had to go indoors for at least 1 session. Calgary had already lost a couple of sessions as of yesterday and ditto for Edmonton. They aren't so bad off being blessed with the Commonwealth Fieldhouse which allows them to operate practices close to outdoor situations.

Matt's not necessarily in the best position to produce the same type of info as BCF. He's always trying to provide more one-on-one with the players type content for the team website. Folks like BCF and I can totally focus on what's going on in the drills, skelly and team play from start of practice until finish from our perches up in the stands. Matt's down on field level talking to a variety of folks not necessarily about the practice itself as much as to coordinate who to talk to after it's over not just for himself but for others during the post-practice media availability.

[Gridiron Ernie]

Oh for sure, Hambone. Agreed on both counts. The smoke problem is not unique for the Leos. (And sadly it could very well become the norm for the West's teams.) And I very much respect and appreciate Matt Baker's media work in general. I was only referring to the recaps with my comment. As you say, his one on one stuff is more his style and priority, and I enjoy all that.

[Hambone]

Oh for sure, Hambone. Agreed on both counts. The smoke problem is not unique for the Leos. (And sadly it could very well become the norm for the West's teams.) And I very much respect and appreciate Matt Baker's media work in general. I was only referring to the recaps with my comment. As you say, his one on one stuff is more his style and priority, and I enjoy all that.

Matt's work for content on the Lions site has been far ahead of what other club's have provided for their fans. The rest though are catching up to his example.

Things tonight are promising in Kamloops. The skies tonight are much clearer than they were for my drive from PG down to Kamloops this afternoon via Hwy 24 to avoid Cache Creek.

[B.C.FAN]

The Kamloops sky is bright blue Friday morning and the air quality reading is 3 (low) after being at 11 (very high) for the past two days so all should be good for a morning double practice on the eve of Fan Fest.