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May 25, 2017

Mini-Camp Recap | Day One

The Kamloops rain holding off was just one of many positives from day one of BC Lions mini-camp at Hillside Stadium. The three-day prelude to main camp allows Wally Buono and his staff to get an extra read on some of the first year players and select returnees. Just like the excitement of Christmas morning the anticipation and intrigue was in the Thompson Rivers University air from the time the horn sounded to begin stretching period. From there the day began with individual drills, a little skelly and then to some special teams work before they ended with full on team drills. This is the first of a series of daily practice reports we are happy to deliver at BCLions.com.

Standouts

The entire defence showed up to play on day one but the game ball would have to go to safety Tevin McDonald (below). The son of former San Francisco 49ers all-pro Tim McDonald had two interceptions in team drills and narrowly missed two others before it was all over. The new list of defensive line recruits came as advertised; especially ex-Carolina Panther Frank Alexander whose spin moves caused fits for the blockers. Ken Boatright and Luther Maddy performed well in one on one drills. Linebacker Dyshawn Davis made his presence felt in skelly. We will give our offensive game ball to quarterback Keith Price, the elder statesmen of the three pivots here until Sunday. The second-year Lion had some nice deep balls and was picking and choosing his targets for much of the day. 28-year old Douglas McNeill III made a couple nice grabs in tight coverage while Deon Long showed some playmaking ability of his own. Running back Tyler Davis- who was originally signed as a wide receiver- was explosive out of the backfield along with Josh Harris. The intensity was high and the excitement level more than evident.

Injury Report

Receiver Shaq Johnson tweaked his knee early in the individual drills portion and sat out the rest of practice as a precaution. He will be re-evaluated tomorrow.

Quotable

“This is a great group and our veterans haven’t even gotten here yet. We like them all. All of these guys are in the mix to be big factors for us.”

Director of US Scouting Ryan Rigmaiden on the play of the defensive line

“Their knowledge alone is above the rest. Its going to be a cool feeling working with them and doing it so closely is going to make for a smooth transition to the CFL.”

First Round Pick Danny Vandervoort on benefits of learning under Khari Jones and Marcel Bellefueuille

Tomorrow

The same group of players will be on hand for another padded practice from 3:30-5:30 PM at Hillside.

Matt Baker: mbaker@bclions.com