May 21, 2018

Collaros relishes organized chaos that was Riders’ first practice

Riderville.com

SASKATOON — There is no easing into things for Zach Collaros.

The veteran pivot, who was acquired in the off-season in a trade with Hamilton, had just a mini-camp under his belt before taking the field Saturday in Saskatoon but that was clearly all the Riders coaching staff needed before they put him through what Collaros called a “chaotic” first day of training camp.

“There was a lot of energy (at practice) and that’s what coach Jones wants to do,” Collaros told a gathering of media following Day 1 of Riders training camp. “Guys were moving around and moving fast, making it a chaotic thing.  People were yelling out the play clock, trying to get lined up.  It was a bit chaotic at first — I haven’t done anything like that since college.”

While the first day of camp is often used to install certain portions of the playbook, tighten up on fundamentals and shake the overall rust off, the Riders were far from going through the paces on day one.  The aforemnetioned ‘chaos’ was created by a head coach who understands the pulse of his team and setting the tone off the bat was clearly a priority for Chris Jones.


MORE ON RIDERS TRAINING CAMP

» Riders suspend Trent Richardson; release Cameron Marshall
» Checking Down: News and notes from the first day
» Off to the Races: Training Camps open across the country
» Training Camp Primer: A team-by-team look

 

“I thought the offence did a really good job getting in and out of the huddle and there were only a few times where we would have taken a delay of game,” Jones told reporters Saturday.  “The quarterbacks did a good job of handling our offence.”

Few have been itching to get back into the paces then Collaros who spent the second half of the season holding a clipboard in what was a troubling year in Hamilton in 2017.  An 0-8 start, followed by a benching by then-interim head coach June Jones left the once-star quarterback searching for his footing in a league he all but dominated in 2015 before a knee injury.

“I’m a big (repetition) guy, whether it’s mental or getting the physical reps,” Collaros told Riderville.com’s Ian Hamilton. “The more reps that we can get, the better off we’ll be, especially versus all the different looks that we’re going to get. And Coach (Chris) Jones throws a lot of them at us during practice.”

And after such a challenging year — one where he lost his starting spot and many outsiders questioned his future in Hamilton, especially with such a big-ticket contract — Collaros was visibly comfortable in his new surroundings, smiling every time he was asked about his return to the football field.

“It was awesome playing football today,” Collaros said with a grin. “Getting out there with Duron (Carter) Bakari (Grant), Namaan (Roosevelt) and the different looks that coach Jones gives us and trying to figure out what we are going to do against that. Once we got into practice, it felt like football again.”

– With files from Riderville.com