MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — The Argonauts were met by a few dozen fans that arrived bright and early to the first full practice of 2009 training camp. All of the players were in full uniform including shoulder pads, helmets, game pants and pads. The tempo was upbeat again and the excitement from the veterans was infectious. During morning practice DT Walter Curry let out a warrior-like cry when the line was sent to work out on its own. His enthusiasm was echoed with a series of yelps and cheers by his teammates.
Veteran RB Jeff Johnson talked about his first day of practice, “I liked the speed and efficiency of practice. It’s only day one, and sometimes day one practices can be challenging, but these were fast and clean. It felt great to be out there with the guys and working together. I’ve missed one workout since January, so I personally felt really good. The running backs made some good runs considering that it’s early in the camp and we’ve got a new offensive line. Everyone is wide-eyed right now and the game needs to slow down. What I mean is that, right now, we’re out there running at full speed and seeing it all happen at full speed. By day three or four, we’ll still be going at full speed but we’ll see everything in slow motion – that will really help.”
WR Arland Bruce III didn’t lose a step making two impressive catches; the second came on the last play of the AM practice and brought the crowd to its feet. Rookie wideout Hank Edwards had the morning’s notable reception with a diving catch near the marked 10-yard line.
Between practices Andre Talbot ate a quick lunch and then found a quiet place in the cafeteria to learn the bevy of new plays the coaching staff had already inserted into the playbook. Talbot had several great catches throughout afternoon practice.
More than 60 fans brought blanks and lined the sideline during afternoon drills. The rain held out and they caught a glimpse of new Argonauts Jarrett Payton and speedy receiver Todd Lowber. RB Tyler Ebell took second team reps – his first full practices since rupturing his Achilles tendon in 2008 training camp. The defence was strong today as they made plays all over the field. Some noteables were DB Will Poole who snagged a tipped ball then dug his feet in before falling out of bounds. LB Nick Hannah teamed with Sammy Joseph to create an interception on a deep ball. Draft pick James Green played aggressively all practice but maybe not as tough as Pete Hunter who put his shoulder into one unsuspecting receiver during afternoon skelly and dropped him to the ground.
JEFF JOHNSON ON:
Wearing full pads in practice: “It felt weird to put game pants on for practice, but it was fine once we got on the field. We’re out there to play and not worry about the wardrobe.”
Steve Buratto as the new running backs position coach: “Having Coach Buratto is going well. We put in a lot of plays yesterday and he was able simplify them and help us prepare.”
Veteran players were on the field of the Argos first official 2009 training camp practice on Sunday. The Boatmen announced that RB Jarrett Payton (Walter Payton’s son) and WR Todd Lowber have signed and that eight players from rookie camp had been released. Practices are open to the public daily – argonauts.ca for details.
NOTES: The Argos released 8 players from mini-camp and added Brad Crawford and Clifford Dukes to the suspended list…Rob Murphy and Dominic Picard made their Argo debuts with the first team offence today…Third string QB Stephen Reaves demonstrated a strong arm again in practice…Players return to the field at 8:30 a.m. on Monday morning.