GETTING INTO SEASON SHAPE
Henoc Muamba drops 11 pounds
There was a little too much “middle” on Saskatchewan Roughriders middle linebacker Henoc Muamba.
Muamba, the Riders’ starting middle linebacker and linchpin of the defence, gained 14 pounds during the CFL off-season. Chris Jones, the Riders’ head coach and general manager, wasn’t happy that a heavier Muamba arrived at training camp.
Muamba addressed the extra weight during the Riders’ threeweek training camp and had dropped 11 pounds entering Thursday’s regular-season opener against the host Montreal Alouettes.
“I’m a pro and if I get asked to do certain things, I can handle it,’’ Muamba said. “I’m at the point in my career and in my life where I know my body. I know what kind of things to eat if I need to gain weight and what I need to do if I need to lose weight. I made the adjustments and I feel comfortable.’’
Jones helped Muamba shed some pounds by playing him in both pre-season games.
“I tried to play him back to where he was last year,’’ Jones said. “When he came in, he was 14 pounds heavier than he was a year ago. Anytime you do that it’s tough to keep up the speed and conditioning levels. We played him a lot in the first pre-season game and then up to the fourth quarter (in the second pre-season game) in the hopes that he has to be the guy in the middle for us.’’
The 6-foot-0 linebacker was listed at 240 pounds before Thursday’s 17-16 loss in Montreal.
Muamba showed he was in playing shape when he had five defensive tackles, a special-teams tackle and a knock-down.
“It’s all about discipline, whether it’s as a football player or just as a regular person,’’ Muamba said. “It’s watching what you eat and doing the little extra things that you need to do in order to gain weight or to lose weight and things will usually take care of themselves.’’
The Riders’ linebackers were a defensive strength during the 2016 season. Strong-side linebacker Otha Foster led the Riders with 71 defensive tackles, middle linebacker Greg Jones was second with 70 and weakside linebacker Jeff Knox Jr. was third with 65.
The signing of Muamba late in the 2016 season led to Jones being bumped from a starting role and his eventual release in the off-season. Foster signed with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens and Knox with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Replacing Knox and Foster as starters on Thursday were raw rookies Erick Dargan and Sam Williams.
Williams started at strongside linebacker, a placement that takes advantage of his experience as a defensive back in what is essentially a coverage position for the Riders. Dargan and Williams each had four defensive tackles on Thursday.
Defensive halfback Chris Lyles recorded a defensive tackle and recovered a fumble in his first CFL game. Jones was pleased by how Dargan, Williams and Lyles handled their CFL debuts.
“The game wasn’t too big for them,’’ Jones said. “Their eyes weren’t really big on the sideline and they were pretty relaxed.’’
Having Muamba’s experience may have helped the rookie linebackers relax. The 28-year-old is in his sixth CFL season after being the first overall pick in the 2011 draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He spent three seasons with Winnipeg, earning CFL all-star honours in 2013.
Muamba spent the 2014 season with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts. He was released by the Colts following training camp in 2015 and signed with the Alouettes, with whom he finished the CFL season.
Muamba was released by Montreal in February of 2016 and went to training camp with the Dallas Cowboys. After being cut by Dallas, he settled on Saskatchewan and recorded 18 defensive tackles, nine special-team tackles and two sacks in five regular-season games last year.
Despite opening the 2017 season with a loss, Muamba is excited about Saskatchewan’s potential on defence. “We have a lot of ballers on this team,’’ Muamba said. “We have so much depth and so many players that we have to get to a place where we play with discipline and don’t hurt ourselves.’’