Practice Reports (vs Hamilton)

zbest · October 15, 2008, 9:35pm

http://www.riderfans.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66830

"The Booze Brother":

A little cool once the West stand were covered in a shadow bu here is what I saw…

-Durants arm does not look suspect to me at all he was throwing the ball with ease 45-55 yards and hitting recievers in stride.
-Durant had a series early where he marched the ball with ease, looked, dare I say, Ricky Ray like.
-Fantuz dressed looked slightly tentative, did not seam to have that “I have not eaten for a week and the ball is a steak” like he normally does. Also seemed slightly tentative on cuts.
-Matt D dressed and did not do much that stood out
-Chick was dressed but not in, mostly doing things to the side.
-Flick Dressed made a grab that I noticed
-Getzlaf made a nice grab on a long ball looks really good out there
-Bagg looked good as well nice routes good position, catches the ball. Was also working with Durant toward the end on deep timing.(like I said Durants arm looked as good as needed.
-Cates dressed not involved
-Dreesler caught almost everything except 2 long ones (one in scrimmage one in timing ) That hit his finger tips but were slightly over thrown from Durant.
-Jyles looked good but seems to focus on the primary reciever from the snap 11?? did the same had good arm but through into a lot of traffic and did not put the ball close enough to the sidlines on long balls where only the reciever could get it.
-Stu Foorde look ed good on the scout team.
-Hughes and Szarka looked good on grabs out of the backfield
-Players all seemed pretty up beat after the shelacking…I think that is good though, not sure why but Ijust got a feeling that that is good.
-etch was coaching Baggs on his angles.

redstallion · October 16, 2008, 3:32am

Originally Posted by Balls
Thanks for the report. I dropped into practice for 1/2 hour or so and offer a few additional comments:

Anton Mackenzie was practicing with the 1st team
Vince Marshall was taking 1st team reps (in place of the injured Gerran Walker) along with Dressler, Getzlaf and Bagg.
Fantuz, Dominquez and Flick all took reps with the 2nd team. Flick looked like he was limping.
I saw two long passes to Adarius Bowman and he looked terrible on both. Didn't make adjustment to either pass...questionable effort
Abou Mechrek was practicing.
Scott Gordon is still practicing with the first team. I was hoping that Patrick would get the start for the Hamilton game.

zbest · October 16, 2008, 7:27pm

http://www.riderfans.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1312058

"redmanrules":

Practise report Oct 16/08

Hi…just got back from practise…here are my comments. Was only there about 45 minutes…
Quarterbacks:

In the short time I was there, saw Bishop throw 0 passes. Durant is #1 and Jyles is firmly entreched at #2 now (Durant took most reps with first team and Jyles took the rest).

Durant looks fine. Had one pick on an overthrow, but made lots of nice short and intermediate passes. Really seems calm and poised in there.

Jyles looked really good to I thought (checking down his reads and going to the 2nd or 3rd receiver).

Tate is really not shining at all. Bell on the other hand is awesome - didn’t see him miss a pass in the short time he was in. He seems to be able to make reads and find an open guy.

Receivers:

looks like Bagg, Getzlaf, Dressler, Marshall and 84/86 (not sure who they are - Hernadez? ).

didn’t see Flick out there at all. Domingez and Fantuz were taking reps (2nd string) and looked alright. I suspect both are back for the next game (not Hamilton).

The starters all looked pretty good (especially Dressler, Bagg and Getzlaf - all very good).

They did a nice play where they cross Dressler over the middle about 5-10 yards deep. Great play - just like Edmonton likes to do to us all the time.

Offensive line:

Appears to be the same group as last week.

Cates:

he is definitely back in for this weekend’s game. He looked good and took majority of first string reps. He was catching well out of the back field.

Defense:

didn’t really pay much attention to them - more focused on the “O”

Chick was out there practising, although not taking much first string reps. I guess he is out for Hamilton and back the following game.

unfortunately, Gordon appears to be our starting safety still - too bad - I think we could get a big upgrade there if Patrick started as our safety.

zbest · October 16, 2008, 9:36pm

"Tatooedgreen":

I was at practice for it’s entirety. And saw a couple things differently.

Durant did not look sharp at all. The first drive in the scrimmage against the scout defence, he did not complete a pass, and just didn’t look comfortable. But I’m sure he will get it together by Sunday.

Chick did not take reps, he was running with McCullaugh at the other end of the field.

Flick was in sweats and sitting on the bench for most of the practice. He has clearly had a setback.

Some other points were

Fantuz, Dominguez and Bowman were all on the scout team, and should be good to go for the Edmonton game (except Bowman who is still on the 9 game).

Yes Cates took most of the 1st string reps, and looks to start this week.

Agreed Tate looks aweful and Bell is a keeper.

Bishop didn’t touch a ball after warmups.

Anton should be back this week.

"heater88":

Jyles was the best looking of the QB’s today. Second would be Bell IMO. Durant couldn’t hit water standing in a boat the first half of practice. Looked indecisicive and passes were all over. He is owed the chance at this point but I would say if we are all about production at this point, Jyles looks like he could do all right in there too. Let Tate go already. Unreal. A couple of times he held onto the ball for 6-7 seconds watching guys running though the middle open and delivered the ball late. Takes too long and would get killled in a game if he plays like he practices.

Cates looked good and was running fine. DJ is not gonna be back soon or at all 2 weeks is a maybe I bet its more like 3-4.

Matt looked like he could play this week. Took a few breathers but did well in there when he was. Fantuz looked good too but seemed to be sitting out more often than Matt, maybe that was just me though too.

Shultz got in a little dust up. Couldn’t see who with but nice to know guys are a little edgey after the last one.

Why do people not talk about Frazier more. From all the practices I have seen this year, he looks the best of the group. NOw don’t get all wadded up in the rear all you ED lovers. But Frazier is our best DB from what I have seen this year at practice and he is rarely the guy getting beat over and over agian in games ( hello Omar) Heard also has always been impressive too. I like him and hope we can get him in the lineup and starting on a regular basis in the very near future.

Geno did a bang up job at centre. Snaps were fine, protection was good. This group is the least of the worries right now.

A little worried about how the D line shakes out this weekend. WHo is all healthy enough to play end and be in the rotation. A couple of suprises for Porter this weekend to test his ability to read a D pre-snap. Lotsa jumping around and guys flying around in the box pre-snap. Not sure who went and dropped at the snap as it looked like everyone changed spots in about a second or two.

This game is Cates all the way, the more we use him the better our chances. Just hope he holds up. DD doesn’t look like he is gonna come out of the gate flying anyway and till he calms down Cates has to shoulder the load.

And it was way frickin’ colder than I thought it was.

zbest · October 16, 2008, 9:56pm

"Rider Rumblings (McCormick)":

Well, Durant wasn’t the only new face with the first-team offence. Running back Wes Cates was running routes and carrying the ball. Cates made some great cuts and looks ready to go on Sunday. Miller said he would likely make a decision on Friday morning about Cates. That usually means that Miller wants to see how his star tailback feels after a full practice.
The news isn’t as good for linebacker Anton McKenzie. He’s being held out for another week with a stinger in his neck. I talked to McKenzie and it sounds like it’s more than just uncomfortable. There was damage to two nerves, which produced tingling in his fingers and pain through this whole arm.
“I couldn’t use my arm at all,’ said McKenzie. “I had to wait for the nerve to fire back up to tell the muscle what to do.’’
McKenzie has missed three games while rebuilding the strength in his arm.
“It’s depressing because I want to get out there,’’ said McKenzie, who was leading the Riders with 63 tackles when he was sidelined. “I feel fine but they want to wait another week.’’
There was a spirited scrap between defensive tackle Scott Schultz and guard Chris Best. So, there wasn’t any doubt about intensity at practice. Neither man was willing to give any ground during the battle. They did make up after practice. Just big boys being big boys.

zbest · October 19, 2008, 12:16am

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