Hogan: Camp Diary – Day One
Whether it be the shrill sound of a whistle, a quarterback calling out a signal, or a player uttering a well-placed curse word after not executing a play, the sounds of football are back and have never sounded sweeter.
The Toronto Argonauts opened training camp on Saturday at the University of Guelph, the first time the team took to the field since November 2019, the final game of that season. There is very little continuity from that roster and coaching staff, and a new level of optimism has enveloped the organization.
Day One was for the most part a learning opportunity, as for many new Americans it was their first live experience with the three-down game. Defensive linemen worked through the yard off the ball for the first time, while backs and receivers worked on a drill to teach them possession rules on balls going out of bounds.
Whether a player was a newbie to the league or a veteran, the level of enthusiasm was unusual, even for a first day. The tempo was fast, so much so that Head Coach Ryan Dinwiddie ended practice roughly 20 minutes before it was scheduled to end.
He saw a lot, and loved what he saw, so much so that when he gathered his players at midfield to wrap up the session he exclaimed “I want to say I’m so excited.”
The enthusiasm was legitimate.
“I didn’t sleep well last night,” Dinwiddie admitted on a Zoom call with reporters after practice. “I was a little bit nervous. I wanted to make sure practice was crisp…I woke up about every 15 minutes with something different on my mind.”
He should sleep better Saturday night.
First day jitters will be reserved Sunday for Henoc Muamba. His quarantine period ends Sunday and the free-agent linebacker will be able to get on the field for the first time. He’s determined to win a Grey Cup this year, adding that’s one of the main reasons he opted to come home to Toronto. His mindset echoes that of General Manager Mike “Pinball” Clemons, who addressed the team Friday night.
“Pin addressed the team last night and he had a really good question,” Muamba explained to reporters. “He asked everybody ‘Are we here and ready to compete,’ and he said that’s not even the goal. We’re not here to compete, we’re here to win. That’s been my mindset, my mantra since I started in 2011.”
There’s no question this team has been constructed to not only win now, but in the future as well. One of the main acquisitions in the quest to accomplish those goals came on February 1 when quarterback Nick Arbuckle signed with Toronto.
It didn’t take long for him to show off his skills.
On the first play of “skelly”, essentially a live scrimmage with no linemen, Arbuckle threw his first pass in Double Blue. It was a dart that hit DaVaris Daniels in the hands 30 yards down the left sideline. A few plays later he stretched it out again, hitting Eric Rogers on a seam route for 35.
Not to be outdone, quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson hit Rogers on a seam route a few plays later for a 45-yard touchdown.
That’s not to say the secondary looked bad, far from it. The players with CFL experience seemed to all make plays on the day, as did newcomer Davontae Merriweather, who had a couple of knockdowns.
It’s only one day. Different players will make plays on Day Two and Day Three, and Day Four. But Day One was special, mainly because it had been so long since the Argos had been on the field.
Double Blue News
The team’s roster had to be at 100 by Saturday and several moves were announced just before practice started. Running back Bishop Sankey retired, while Canadians Nelkas Kwemo, Nick Shortill and Robert Woodson were placed on the suspended list, as were Americans Martavis Bryant, Kendall Wright, Keyarris Garrett, Brandon Sheperd and James Sample.
“Martavis is having some passport issues so we had to suspend him,” explained Dinwiddie. “Hopefully he gets that figured out soon and can come join us for camp.”
On Shortill, Kwemo and Woodson he said, “We’ll see. I think those guys got some other opportunities. Two of the three I know at some stage we’ll probably have back. One guy is finishing school…we understand that. We want to keep that relationship with those guys and if they can join us at some point, great, the door is going to be open for all three of those guys.”
Dinwiddie also confirmed that long-time CFL coach Rich Stubler has returned and will work as a defensive assistant to new defensive coordinator Glen Young.
There were three players that are now almost unrecognizable. Offensive linemen Shane Richards, Maurice Simba and Dylan Giffen are all huge, just not as big as they used to be.
The 6’6” Richards left Toronto after the 2019 season at 350 pounds and is down to 280. Simba is 6’7” and reported to camp in 2019 at 365 pounds, and is now 298, while the 6’8” Giffen last played at Western weighing 350 pounds and reported to Guelph at 315.
It’s a huge offensive line, so much so that at one point after a drill the entire o-line was walking to get some water and the shortest man in the handful of players in one group was Theren Churchill, who is 6’5 ½”.