Manziel ascending CFL learning curve faster than expected
HAMILTON For Johnny Manziel, change is a good thing.
Specifically, the outlook Manziel has with Hamilton Tiger-Cats training camp coming to an end compared to what the quarterback had when he took his first snaps a few weeks ago.
“The first couple of days felt a little bit overwhelming, like I would not be able to figure it out as quickly as possible, and now I am sitting here two weeks later with what I feel is a firm understanding of what we are trying to do,” Manziel said Thursday following practice at McMaster University.
“And that’s refreshing. It’s similar to some of the things I have done in the past, so getting back into building habits that are ( based on) what we do here and not what I have been doing in the past and letting some of those old things go (is important).”
Manziel won’t start Saturday in Montreal against the Alouettes in the Ticats’ final pre-season game, even though No. 1 quarterback Jeremiah Masoli won’t be in uniform.
Head coach June Jones confirmed Manziel remains second on the depth chart, but Jones wanted Bryant Moniz, who did not play in the pre-season opener June 1 against Toronto, to get some game reps, so he will start.
There was some clarity Thursday regarding the Ticats’ quarterback picture. Vernon Adams Jr., who had been vying for a backup spot, did not practise, with Jones saying later the Ticats were talking to the Edmonton Eskimos and Alouettes about a possible trade.
Though Adams had not been dealt by late Thursday afternoon, he became expendable in part because Manziel has not taken a lot of time to become accustomed to the Canadian Football League game.
“As soon as we signed Johnny, (the depth chart) changed,” Jones said. “That’s what I told Vernon. I love Vernon. He is a great kid and played really well for me in the East-West Shrine Game (in 2016) and he is a gamer. Everything in this league changes so fast. Just like I told him, maybe in two years (he) will be right back here with me. That’s just how this is.”
Jones plans to leave most of the Ticats’ first-teamers, both on offence and defence, at home when the club boards a train Friday and heads to Montreal.
The playbook for Manziel against the Alouettes will be expanded from last week, when he completed nine of 11 passes against the Argos for 80 yards.
“It will be a little bit bigger, but at the same time we are playing with all the young guys, not the starters, so you take that into consideration, too,” Jones said.
“But I know he is more comfortable with what we are doing, so we will see if he speeds up and things go faster.”
No matter who he is throwing to Saturday afternoon at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, Manziel will take each snap with the proper attitude.
“You can’t come up here and play one game and expect to have seen every coverage, that you’ve seen everything,” Manziel said.
“It’s going to take a while. There are going to be some things I am going to see in this game that are different than what Toronto ran, different than what our defence runs. Hopefully the improvement I am trying to make going into this week is … I felt like I got a little antsy in the pocket a couple times there (against the Argos) and (I know I have to) just trust in protection and trust in the guys we have in there.”
Manziel said he is in the process of nailing down a place to live. Once the Ticats return from Montreal on Saturday and final cuts are submitted to the CFL head office by 10 a.m. Sunday, camp will be done.
“It has been fun; it has been good to be back around everybody, just be back going through a normal day and getting to know these guys,” Manziel said.
“My Junes and Julys in the past have been … not this. I feel thankful and blessed for the opportunity to be out here.”