Hamilton QB Manziel learning CFL game faster than expected
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 wouldn’t be able to figure it out as quickly as possible, and now I’m sitting here two weeks later with what I feel is a firm understanding of what we’re 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 didn’t play in the pre-season opener June 1 against Toronto, to get some game reps, so he’ll start.
There was some clarity on Thursday regarding the Ticats’ quarterback picture. Vernon Adams Jr., who had been vying for a backup spot, didn’t practise, with Jones saying later the Ticats were talking to the Edmonton Eskimos and Alouettes about a possible trade. Though Adams hadn’t been dealt by late Thursday afternoon, he became expendable in part because Manziel didn’t take 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” 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’re playing with all the young guys, not the starters, so you take that into consideration, too,” Jones said. “But I know he’s more comfortable with what we’re doing, so we’ll see if he speeds up and things go faster.” No matter who he’s 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’m going to see in this game that are different than what Toronto ran, different than what our defence runs.
“… 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 the protection and trust in the guys we have in there.”
Once the Ticats return from Montreal on Saturday and final cuts are submitted to the CFL head office by 10 a.m. on Sunday, camp will be done.
“It’s been fun. It’s been good to be back around everybody, just be back going through a normal day and getting to know these guys,” Manziel said