Don Landry | Argonauts.ca Insider
That was quite the first career start for Argos’ sophomore linebacker Thomas Miles. Even more impressive when you consider he was playing in a spot he never had before.
With seven tackles and a pass knockdown in Toronto’s 35-26 win in Ottawa in Week 14, the 23-year-old looked very comfortable in the position of weak side linebacker, subbing in for the injured Cory Greenwood.
“I had to work out a few of the wrinkles before I got a feel for what it really was like playing outside the box,” said Miles, after practice, this week. “I’ve played middle linebacker my whole life.”
The University of Manitoba grad looked so good in his first CFL start, there’s little reason to think he won’t be there again when the Argos meet the RedBlacks, once again, this Tuesday night. With Greenwood out indefinitely, Miles’ quick rise from his own return from injury is a blessing for the team.
Sidelined with a torn wrist ligament suffered when he tried to strip a ball carrier during the early days of training camp – “I just kinda felt a shock up my wrist,” he says of the injury – Miles’ second year in the CFL was put on hold until a few weeks ago, when he returned to the line-up and was slowly brought back into game action.
“Over the last couple of weeks I kinda got comfortable getting some game reps, just tagging in for (starting middle linebacker) Greg Jones,” he said.
The Argos’ coaching staff had been playing it cautious with Miles, making sure they didn’t rush their talented linebacking prospect back into battle. His return after basically missing most of training camp and the first half of the season saw him still trying to reclaim full physical fitness. As well, he came back with a cast on his wrist. He had it on for the Ottawa game and will likely continue to sport it for the foreseeable future. “I have no problem catching footballs or anything like that,” he said, noting that he’ll wear it more as a precautionary measure than anything else.
When those in-game substitutions for Jones went well, the coaches decided they’d try Miles at weak side linebacker during the practice week that led up to the meeting with Ottawa. Deciding he looked good enough to start, they informed him of that the day before the game.
“It took a while to kinda get the feel for it again,” Miles said of being a starter. It’d been a while since I played a full game.”
Miles looked pretty used to things almost right away, to the casual observer, but he says he noticed a distinct difference after the intermission of that game. “My second half was a lot stronger than the first,” he said.
“Obviously there’s some spots I have to improve on,” he continued. “When you’re new at something, the learning curve’s gonna be steep. At the same time, your progress is going to increase very steeply as well. I’m expecting to have a much more sound game this week.”
In essence, Miles says, while the differences between playing middle linebacker and outside linebacker might seem to be many and pronounced, it’s not so complicated. At least not for him.
“They’re really the same thing, just from different angles,” he said. “At the end of the day, you’re playing linebacker and you’re playing football. Your vision just changes because you’re looking at the field entirely differently.”
If Miles is the real deal as a starter, this early in his career, he has a few people to thank for that. When asked to name the Argos who’ve helped him get comfortable as a pro, he singled out the team’s defensive coordinator; the same man who served as the club’s Linebackers Coach during Miles’ rookie year.
“Casey Creehan has been an absolutely phenomenal position coach. I learned a ton from him last year.”
As for a mentor within the ranks of Argonaut players, Miles had good things to say about Greenwood and another veteran Canadian linebacker, James Yurichuk. He also had special praise for Jones.
“We talk about technique to take on blockers,” Miles said of Jones’ mentoring value. “We talk about technique when we’re taking zone drops, man to man. Anything about the position, he’s got pointers on. He’s played pro football for a long time. He’s been a huge help.”
“There are a lot of really talented, veteran linebackers on this team that have been a great help for me over the last two years,” he said.
It could be that Miles is on the cusp as a regular starting linebacker for the Argonauts. At the very least, his first start as a pro gave plenty of reason for Argos fans to be hopeful of that. Next up, he and the Argos’ defence will try, again, to keep Ottawa quarterback Henry Burris from doing the kind of thing he did to the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday night.
“Did you see what Burris did last night?” I asked him as we drew close to the end of our interview.
“Yup,” Miles said, without even a hint of wonder. He sure game-faced that answer.
“He’s playing great football,” he said. “As good as he’s ever played. Reminds me of when I was in elementary school, watching him play.”
“We have to be sound in our assignments and we have to make sure tackles because they’ve got guys who can really carry after the catch.”
Sound and sure. Two things that Thomas Miles appeared to be in his debut as a pro football starter last week.