It was the first day of 2018 training camp for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon.
Veteran receiver Duron Carter said he was excited to see his teammates after a long off-season and to get to work on a long journey in hopes of winning the Grey Cup.
“It’s feels great. Everybody out here. We have a lot of great relationships. A lot of friends. And just coming back and building on last year. Everybody’s hungry out here, you could feel it in the day one, we had a great day out here and everybody’s just ready to get to this next season,” Carter said.
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Carter also said he’s looking forward to playing with new Rider quarterback Zach Collaros.
“Every quarterback has those little niches that they like. For example (Kevin Glenn) wanted me to sit on the route. As far as Collaros, he wanted me to break out of it and it’s just getting that timing down and knowing what your quarterback wants to do so you can be available to them at any time,” Carter said.
“I’ve had Brandon Bridge on my team a few years so getting used to somebody else’s arm strength isn’t really that hard … we’re out here, professionals, we’ve all played with quarterbacks that have rockets and some quarterbacks have noodles and you just have to go out there and adjust,” he said.
“It definitely excites me on what we could become,” says former Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Zach Collaros, who signed with Saskatchewan in January. “Coach (Chris) Jones said we had a good day today, but we got a long way to go and a tonne of potential. I think our ceiling’s very high so that’s the exciting part, is being able to come out here for these guys every day and get better.”
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“I’ve always heard for a long time that (Carter’s) football IQ is off the charts and from the minimal chances that we got to talk out there after plays, because things are moving fast, I could see what people mean by that. He definitely understands the game and it’s going to be exciting playing with him,” Collaros said.
“Collaros throws a great ball, he hit me in my ribs one time and I think it hit my heart in-between them,” Carter joked.
Saskatchewan announced a number of transactions as training camp opened, and among them was placing running back Trent Richardson on the suspended list.
Richardson signed with the Roughriders in September 2017. The 27-year-old suited up in four games and recorded two touchdowns on 48 carries. Before joining the Riders, he spent three seasons in the NFL.
“Trent’s got some things going on and that’s kind of all I’m going to expand on. We wish Trent the best, he came and did a great job for us last year and he’s a really good guy,” Riders head coach and GM Chris Jones said.
When asked if Richardson would ever be back, Jones said: “I will never say never.”
Practices will also be held at SMF Field in Saskatoon, and even one in Humboldt next month during this year’s training camp.
The team finished the 2017 regular season 10-8 and was eliminated in the CFL Eastern Final by the Toronto Argonauts.
The Riders play at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton on May 27 to kick off the pre-season action.
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