DAY 2 OF MINICAMP COMPLETE

VERO BEACH, FL – The Saskatchewan Roughriders 2017 Florida minicamp is already two-thirds over. Here’s a brief synopsis of Day 2 here at Dodgertown:

– The Riders two-a-day workouts went from 8:30 am ET to around 12:30 pm ET, covering four hours.

– Veteran quarterback Kevin Glenn didn’t participate in the pass skeleton sessions, but did throw in the individual periods. He wasn’t ailing, or hurt. The 37-year old pivot told us afterwards the coaches wanted to spread the reps around the other four quarterbacks.

– Aside from the absence of Glenn, the quarterback depth chart remained the same as Day 1: Brandon Bridge, Vince Young, Bryan Bennett and Jake Heaps. All are familiar with the CFL game as Bennett spent time with the Blue Bombers last year and Heaps with the Eskimos.

– In the early morning period the ball barely touched the ground, at one point 17 consecutive passes were completed (mostly underneath). The play which broke the sequence up was Vince Young holding onto the football – seeing no one open – and the air horn ending the play. The DBs did a good job mixing things up against the QBs. The completion percentages were high and all QBs performed fairly well.

– CKRM’s Luc Mullinder singled out Jake Heaps and Bryan Bennett for their solid play on Wednesday, and their ability to quickly pick up everything that’s thrown at them.

– Miami Dolphins 2011 draftee Daniel Thomas, a 6’2″, 230 lb running back, participated in the minicamp for the first time after working out in the Play-In Tryout on the weekend. He’s a Jerome Messam-type of back, and looked sharp.

– The standout on offense, for me on Day 2, was WR #86 Dezmond Reece (5’10”, 172 lbs, Tuskegee). He made several acrobatic grabs, many of them in traffic.

– On defense, linebackers #97 Gary Wilkins (Furman) and #51 Alexandre Gagne (Sherbrooke) stood out. In fact Riders Head Coach & GM Chris Jones barked out at one point, “97 and 51 can’t take all the reps!” The pair was quick to jump in on plays as much as they could, impressing the coaching staff by their eagerness.

– #27 DB Zavian Bingham (Jackson St) had another solid day, picking off Vince Young. The Riders’ John Murphy pointed out on Wednesday’s SportsCage that Bingham leads all defenders with four interceptions through two days.

– Mouthpiece #21 Regis Ball (Memphis) – younger brother of veteran Argo Marcus Ball – registered his first pick of camp on Wednesday. However he was labouring near the end of Day 2 with an apparent lower body injury. It’ll be interesting to see his status on Day 3.

– The Riders’ Jeremy O’Day pointed out after the workout that the staff is particularly impressed by the group of defensive backs.

– An interested observer on Day 2 was former Riders Offensive Coordinator Doug Berry who made the drive over from his home in Port Charles, FL to watch the workout and catch up with old friends.

– Day 3 is the final day of the 2017 Minicamp, and the players will hit the field at 8:30 am ET at Dodgertown.

Rider President Craig Reynolds appears on 620 CKRM’s SportsCage .. He declined to provide an update on the CFL Commissioner search, saying Rider Chairman Wayne Morksy has far more to do with that.