Receiver Price aims to break out against his former mates
The extent of Maurice Price’s experience with the Calgary Stampeders’ defence has been within the friendly confines of practice. That changes on Friday night. “It’s going to be weird,” said the Ottawa Redblacks’ receiver.
“The bright side is, I’ve been trying to psyche myself up like it’s going to be just another practice. Three years of going against those guys ...
“The only difference is, they’ll be able to hit me now. I’m not looking forward to a guy like ( Deron) Mayo and Keon ( Raymond) and Simp ( Juwan Simpson) being able to hit me, so hopefully they won’t hurt me too bad so we can still be friends afterward.”
Friend or not, the Stamps will have Price and another former teammate, receiver Brad Sinopoli, on their radar as the teams tangle at TD Place. Price, whom the Stamps traded to Ottawa for linebacker Jasper Simmons and receiver Dan Buckner in the off- season, admitted the deal stunned him.
“I didn’t really understand why,” the 29- year- old said. “I still don’t understand why, the root of it. But maybe it’s not that deep. A business decision at the end of the day. I felt like I was one of the top guys, I was young, one of the core pieces.
“To be all the way honest with you, it hurt my feelings a little bit at first. And I still miss those guys. Three years over there, the success we had, that’s a lot of bonding. You feel like you’re part of a championship team, then you get traded, and you feel like you’re not part of it anymore. But as time passed, I’ve embraced it. I’m just blessed to be here with Hank ( QB Burris), a legend, Hall of Famer, great coaching staff and some familiar faces to lean on.”
Thus far, Henry Burris and Price haven’t hooked up for the long, back- breaking play that the Redblacks want from him. Price has been thrown to 26 times, has made a dozen catches for 91 yards. Underwhelming. “I think about it all the time,” said Price. “I’m waiting for us to connect on one of those. It’s coming, it’s coming. Just have to stay patient and just run every route. I know Hank will get it to me. Maybe it’ll be tomorrow. What a story that’ll make.”
Sinopoli, meanwhile, has already been a good story for the Redblacks, hauling in 23 passes for 243 yards, eighth in the CFL, as well as seven second- down conversions.
“He’s done everything we’ve asked of him,” said Ottawa head coach Rick Campbell. “He’s what I thought he’d be. The big thing he’s done is get yards after the catch and running through some tackles and that’s made a difference for us this year.”
“It was tough leaving Calgary, obviously,” said Sinopoli, who played his university football at Ottawa. “It’s a great organization, great coaches. A great group of guys, but I looked at the opportunity here, made a tough decision. I went with it, moved forward and I’m happy I did.
“I think anytime you get an opportunity to contribute a lot, that’s what you want. You want to become the best player you can. I’ve been lucky that I’ve had some looks this year, caught the balls that I have.”
Burris, too, had words of praise for the former QB.
“He’s an extension of a quarterback’s eyes,” he said. “He breaks it down for you and that’s how he communicates with us. It allows me to build trust in a guy like him. He understands the timing, he’s very knowledgeable, smart guy. But in the end of the day, he gets the job done.”
Another ex- Stampeder with Ottawa is middle linebacker Malik Jackson, whose run of injuries cost him his spot after five years with the club.
“I don’t have no bad blood with those guys,” he said. “It was one of those years ( 2013). I had the arm and the knee. I adjusted the best I could, but things turned out the way they did. It’s pretty strange. It gives you that extra little something. A lot of the defence is the same, I might run across a few of them on special teams.
“Everybody knows their playmakers. Bo’s going to spread the ball around good. They got that big receiver, number 3 ( Jeff Fuller), they’re going to try to get the ball to him. And ( Jon) Cornish is going to give them that consistency in the run game, so you know what they’re going to come with.”
Redblacks’ running back Chevon Walker isn’t 100 per cent, so he won’t suit up. Jovon Johnson will take his spot.