Practice Sept 30

[zbest]

@"Mr. Pilzner"

I’ll just add a bit as I was at practice for only part of it.

Like RP mentioned above:

Bassi is back but was mainly watching when I was there.
Cates was in shorts/t-shirt but not taking reps, I cannot see him playing this week.
Flick is on 2nd team and I think is one more week away (maybe the away game in Calgary). Flick is starting to look good but I don’t think he is 100% yet.
O’Day was back at centre, thank goodness.
I did not see McKenzie there. Later I think I saw him in sweats and a t-shirt. #48 Williams was taking his place.

Tate looks terrible running the scout team. Threw two terrible picks and then over threw an open receiver big time. I hope that is how Burris plays this week. Throwing up easy ducks. Tate didn’t look happy at all. After that Jyles went in and took the scout team reps.

Eric Tillman was on the sidelines watching for at least the last hour. Maybe that helped keep the guys focused. ET chatted with Mauk for quite a while on the sidelines.

Chunky was taking some starting reps at tackle today but I noticed him coaching Verdon quite a bit. Nice to see him working with Verdon and them discussing plays and position etc.

S. Clovis and Gordon were sharing reps today at Safety. I saw Richie pull Gordon a couple times, and my guess is just so he doesn’t over do it. I think Gordon wants to go and probably can this week but they were being cautious with him.

Foord was taking some starting reps at back along with Hughes. My guess is they mix it up again but I think they might go with Foord more often this Friday.

Now for the wierd: I say this because with the expanded roster and all the new players coming in I’m not sure who is who.

I did not see Hugh Charles at all, but I did see a #84 lining up as a back taking 2nd string reps. Normally 84 is Acree but I don’t think that was Acree at all. So is Charles now wearing 84? I’m confused on this one. #84 had some serious bounce/speed today and looked good. Was that really Acree? I hope it was Charles wearing 84.

The receivers:
#7 Dressler had a nice catch today on a long ball when he was wide open. I thought to myself why couldn’t they connect on that last Sunday.
#6 Bagg had some good catches and ran some really nice routes. A couple times he really burnt the DB on his route running. I’m starting to become a bigger fan. I wonder if he can work on increasing his speed.
#87 Ziegler had a couple nice catches today.
#84 also caught some nice balls out of the backfield and when he was in motion. Is this Acree or Charles?
#3 Flick had some great underneath routes and was catching balls in traffic, I can’t wait till he is healthy. We miss him catching the ugly stuff in the middle.

http://www.riderfans.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1294250

[ridrfan1]

Any Fantuz news?

[zbest]

@"Rock Preston #1"

Just a few points that I noticed in my short time there.

• Fantuz was dressed and participated early in practice but must have pulled himself out after warmups. Same with Dominguez…although he was just in sweats.
• Didn’t see Cates, he was apparently jogging around the field early on.
• Getzlaf seemed to be getting more reps on offence.
• Flick practiced as a backup but anyone who thinks he will start this weekend is dreaming. He isn’t ready, no doubt about it. Grayson Tiger, you will owe me a beer.
• Bassi is back practising with the d-line.
• Didn’t see Hugh Charles there.

It’s assumed that Hugh Charles took #84 from Acree. Not sure of Acree’s status.

[zbest]

I’m tired of a new topic every day, so I’m just going to go on a weekly basis

@"rider rumblings"

Wednesday was a fruitful one at Rider practice.
I learned the Chris Getzlaf is expected to start at slotback on Friday against the Calgary Stampeders. I didn’t learn who he was replacing but Michael Palmer is nursing a leg injury and wasn’t dressed Wednesday. Riders head coach Ken Miller said that Palmer is expected to play on Friday.
Getzlaf has been on the nine-game injured list but has been cleared his time.
Hugh Charles is expected to be added to the roster. The import running back will return kicks and see spot duty at running back. Charles is quick and showed it while returning kicks.
Adarius Bowman has looked great in practice. I can’t remember him dropping a ball but he’s still not ready to come off the nine-game injured list. Miller said that Bowman would only be added to the roster for the playoffs.
Import quarterback Ben Mauk has been sent home. He spent a couple of weeks on the practice roster as the Riders evaluated him for next season

@"bbcoach"

Just got back from practice and only have a min but some things I saw:

Flick running routes with second team and looking pretty good…no limp today

Some really nice tosses by Bishop into the back corner of the endzone

Foord taking 1st team reps in the backfield and running hard

Bowman was running full out and made some nice grabs…didnt see any drops

Chick casted up and playing on the D line

88, Smith, Bake working with Womack in the endzone on rehab although 88 did run a few patterns today and was running and cutting well.

Nice pick by Johnson on a bullet from Bishop to one of the backs…stepped in front and kept the ball alive until he got possession

New running back Charles was back in #38 and was taking reps. He has some speed and good cutting ability.

THat’s all I can think of for now…sorry

MD was working with Womack , didn't see Fantuz today.

I also see on the CFL transitions that Acree has been released…and Mauk was missing from practice today anyone know the status on him?

[zbest]

@"Rod Pedersen"

Notes from Riderville today:

• Odds are very very good SBs Andy Fantuz and DJ Flick will be back for the Hamilton game.

• OT Belton Johnson is ahead of schedule (originally expected to miss the balance of the season) and should be back for Edmonton.

• DE John Chick is ahead of schedule and probably will play the second Calgary game.

• RB Wes Cates is doubtful this week, and rookie (been in Regina 10 days) Hugh Charles (from Colorado) may very well be added to the backfield mix of Foord, Hughes and Szarka.

• S Scott Gordon should be returning to the lineup this week, which is good. But the Rider coaches were very happy with the play of James Patrick.

• New receiver Chris Jones (Jackson State and Minnesota Vikings practice roster) is showing a lot of potential. He’s still doesn’t know the offence well enough to play right now, though.

• QB Ben Mauk’s shoulder has been bothering him (it was surgically repaired) and he may go home to strengthen the shoulder and come back next year for training camp.

• QB Darian Durant may not be the only qb on Michael Bishop’s heels. Steven Jyles has been very impressive these past couple of weeks in practice.