The Saskatchewan Roughriders held their final training camp practice in Saskatoon on Thursday before the remainder of training camp will be held in Regina next week. The Riders didn’t exit the turf at Griffiths Stadium without fireworks.
During an offence versus defence period in Thursday’s workout compete levels continued to rise until a boiling point when veteran offensive lineman Jermarcus Hardrick was on the ground wrestling with a pair of defensive linemen.
That was when head coach Corey Mace blew the whistle and told the team to head to the sideline. He reminded his group about high standards and expectations regarding practice and discipline. Mace then had the players run two sets of wind sprints to further emphasize his point.
“We’re trying to get better, we have found that there is room for improvement, certainly on the penalty side the ones that you can avoid. We didn’t execute that today, so we handled a little bit of business.”
Mace encouraged his team to play physical and attack every drill, but he knows the play after the whistle needs to stop.
“I don’t mind the physicality and the compete, we encourage it, but anything after the whistle, there is zero tolerance for that, so we have to figure that out. I think for the better part of camp, we have been A-1 on that. Today wasn’t a good day and it had to be addressed.”
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Daniel Wiebe shines while looking to catch on
Saskatchewan Roughriders' receiver Daniel Wiebe is continuing to impress observers at training camp. The Riders' eight-round pick has shown competence with the playbook, great speed, and the ability to make catches in traffic and the open field. Receivers coach Marquay McDaniel likes what he has seen so far.
“He's been making plays all camp. He looks real good," McDaniel said.
The knock on Wiebe has been his five-foot-10 height. McDaniel can’t coach him to be taller, but he doesn’t think that he needs to.
“Watching his film, you could tell he was a football player, but one thing I liked was that it wasn't too big for him. He came in, smart guy, knows football, knows multiple spots. I threw him in a couple of days ago at a spot he had never played and he didn’t look out of place. I know you saw those big catches from a spot he had never played all camp.”
For Wiebe’s part, he said his success in training camp so far comes down to narrowing his focus.
“Trying to come out here, work hard every day and not focus too much on the outcome. I want to put a good effort in every single rep, every meeting and whatever comes of that, it's meant to come of that.”
As far as his stature is concerned, the University of Saskatchewan pass catcher is using all of the tools he used at the U Sports level to succeed.
"I can't control my height, I can only control my effort, I think that's what I can control. Go out there, do my best and that's been what I've been trying to do every single day.”
Growing up in Rosetown, SK, Wiebe admits he is living his dream, which hit home when he caught a pass from Trevor Harris on the opening day of rookie camp.
“It's crazy being out here and it is super surreal. But it’s nice to start to adjust and start to feel a little bit more comfortable in the environment.
It isn’t clear if Wiebe will play Saturday in Winnipeg, but he has dreamt of slipping on the Riders jersey.
“It's been a lifelong goal of mine to play pro football and I’m taking it day by day.”
Also, from day 12 of training camp:
Not dressed:
- No. 5 DL – Shane Ray
- No. 35 LB – C.J. Avery
- No. 75 DB – Dalton Urban
- No. 99 DL – Charbel Dabire
Plays of the day:
- Tommy Stevens was in at quarterback and after feeling some pressure from his blindside, he stepped to his right and threw a strike to D’Sean Mimbs, who was coming across the middle. The completion resulted in a first down.
- Trevor Harris was next under centre and he looked focused. Harris didn’t miss a pass during the session. Those completions included a lovely pass into a tight window to KeeSean Johnson. Harris then threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Nield over the middle. Harris completed his reps with a pass to the nearside flat to Kian Schaeffer-Baker, who ran into the end zone from 30 yards out.
- Jack Coan also looked dialled in. With pressure in his face, Coan found Mitch Picton open in the flat and completed a pass for a touchdown.
- Coan then, on first down, looked to the back of the end zone from 30 yards out. Recognizing Wiebe had gotten in behind Rolan Milligan Jr., Coan threw a dart into Wiebe’s arms for a touchdown.
The Roughriders will be back on the field for a brief walk-through in Saskatoon then head to Winnipeg for Saturday’s preseason opener. The game will be broadcast across the Rider Broadcast Network starting at 11 a.m.