Glenn happy to be celebrating his birthday at Riders’ camp
Murray McCormick’s musings as the Riders kicked off their third week of training camp Monday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field:
Another training camp,
■ another birthday celebration for quarterback Kevin Glenn. Glenn has celebrated his birthday at training camps since breaking into the CFL in 2001. On Monday, Glenn’s teammates caught him by surprise by soaking him with a cooler of water. Glenn, who was good-humoured about the shower, is also grateful that at 38 he still has an opportunity to celebrate at a training camp.
Josh Stanford was Murray’s
■
Monster for Monday. Stanford, the Riders’ eighth-round selection (62nd overall) in the 2016 CFL draft, made four acrobatic catches. Stanford stretched out for three catches, then hauled in a long touchdown pass from rookie Marquise Williams. Stanford has improved this year after spending 2016 on the practice roster. On Monday, he showed he gained from that experience.
The Riders are handling
■ offensive-line injuries better this season than in 2016. Last year, the Riders struggled to find backups when front-line offensive linemen went down. On Monday, left guard Brendon LaBatte wasn’t practising after reinjuring an ankle and right guard Josiah St. John was out with a head injury. Later, left tackle Derek Dennis limped off the field with an injured knee. The severity of the injuries wasn’t known. Peter Dyakowski stepped in for LaBatte and Dariusz Bladek filled in for St. John. Dillon Guy took over for Dennis.
Williams gained a boost of
■ confidence from his performance in Saturday’s 25-25 pre-season tie with the Blue Bombers, completing five of six passes for 38 yards to put the Riders in position for a game-tying field goal. On Monday, Williams was poised in the pocket and accurate with his passes. He went deep on some attempts and displayed his strong arm. Williams was a late signing and has been playing catch-up with the other quarterbacks. His recent performances may have narrowed the gap. Quick hits: The Riders welcomed punter Josh Bartel and longsnapper Jorgen Hus to practice for the first time since camp opened. Bartel and Hus were sidelined by injures ... There wasn’t any update on receiver Rob Bagg, who suffered an ankle injury Saturday. Jones said after the game the injury was minor.