Riderville.com
VERO BEACH, FLA. — If you know Chris Jones, it should come as no surprise that ‘fast and physical’ best describes the Riders’ three-day mini-camp this week.
The team’s annual camp for rookies and negotiation list players concluded Tuesday in Vero Beach, Fla., capping off what Jones described as a productive few days.
“I thought it was a really athletic camp,” the Riders’ head coach and general manager told Riderville.com. “There were a lot of guys that carry a lot of skill to the field. The quarterbacks did an outstanding job of getting them in and out of the huddle and delivering the calls.
“I thought the coaches drove the guys hard and overall I’m really pleased.”
Veteran pivots Darian Durant and Brett Smith were also on hand, among some 100-odd players who participated at some since camp kicked off Sunday. Other veterans in attendance were running backs Chevon Walker, 28, and Paris Cotton, 26, who were given a chance by the Riders to showcase their ability after wrapping up stints with the Bombers in 2015.
Another former Bomber and once-pro basketball player in Jordan Reaves also participated but not in a manner he’s used to, showing his versatility by taking reps as a defensive back instead of a receiver.
While mini-camps are like Christmas for the coaches, who will be busy over the next several weeks determining which players to bring to training camp come the end of May, the best news for Riders fans may be the looks of the team’s franchise quarterback.
Durant, nearly 10 months removed from a season-ending injury in the Riders’ season-opener last year, earned rave reviews for his play under centre this week.
“Darian Durant’s off-season workouts in Atlanta proved to be very worthwhile,” writes CFL.ca’s Rod Pedersen. “He was deadly accurate and polished which wasn’t the case the past few mini-camps in Bradenton, Fla.
“He even displayed the Peyton Manning- or Kent Austin-like trait of being visibly frustrated when a player dropped a well-thrown pass.”
Overall, meanwhile, the three-day camp was the first chance for Jones to show the Riders what the new regime in Riderville will be all about.
“It’s definitely physical, said Tevaughn Campbell, a national defensive back and 2015 draft pick who arrived in Saskatchewan this off-season via trade. “Even though there’s no pads, no helmet, it’s definitely still physical, still fast.
“He really rags on us about being fast and being physical so that’s what we’re trying to bring.”
For Jones, the evaluation is far from over. He and his staff have some idea of who to take to training camp later next month, but the decisions won’t be made overnight. And at the same time, there are still more players to be evaluated.
“We’ve got four or five other places we’ve got to get some evaluations done, and the NFL Draft is coming in a couple of weeks,” said Jones. “So with that there’s going to be an influx of young guys that thought they were going to get shots in the NFL but unfortunately don’t get that opportunity.
“Fortunately for us we’ve got to make sure that we get them in front of us.”
– With files from Riderville.com and Rod Pedersen
