April 26, 2017

Notebook: Daniel Thomas gets his turn at mini-camp

VERO BEACH, Fla. — Daniel Thomas showed just how proficient he is at reversing his field.

The 29-year-old running back performed so well during workouts with the Saskatchewan Roughriders that he was sent home by the CFL team before it opened its mini-camp at Historic Dodgertown on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Thomas was back at the facility — and back on the field with the Roughriders.

“Day before yesterday, they told me I could go home,” the product of Hilliard, Fla., said after the Roughriders wrapped up Day 2 of their three-day camp. “Coach hit me up yesterday asking if I could come back, so I came back to get some work in.

“I was just watching my high school team practise, so I wasn’t really doing anything,” Thomas added. “It doesn’t hurt.”

Thomas played 52 games over four seasons with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins and is expected to compete for the Roughriders’ vacant starting tailback spot.

As a result, it was noteworthy when he wasn’t on hand for the opening day of mini-camp. But Jeremy O’Day, Saskatchewan’s assistant vice-president of football operations and administration, said the decision was made to send Thomas home so that the coaches could see others on the depth chart.

“With the new rules of not being able to have signed players (work out) with unsigned players, you have to be strategic with your roster and how you manage that,” O’Day said. “After we had another spot open up, we said, ‘This is an opportunity to bring him back so that we can prepare him for training camp and get him back out there so he can learn some more.’ ”

So Thomas returned to Historic Dodgertown, where he got his first taste of the larger CFL-sized field, the Roughriders’ offence and his potential new teammates.

“I just look at (mini-camp) as more work,” Thomas said. “I haven’t met the quarterbacks and I haven’t caught any balls from Vince (Young) or any of those guys, so I feel like it’s a good opportunity for me instead of having my trainer back home throwing me the ball. It was good.”

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O’Day was in Vero Beach on Tuesday when the Edmonton Eskimos introduced their new vice-president of football operations and general manager — positions for which he had interviewed.

The Eskimos instead went with Brock Sunderland, who previously was the assistant GM of the Ottawa Redblacks.

“It’s one of those things,” O’Day said of missing out on the Edmonton job. “It’s no secret that I want to become a general manager and I’m thankful to (Roughriders president-CEO Craig Reynolds and VP of football operations, head coach and GM Chris Jones) for giving me that opportunity (to interview in Edmonton).

“At the very least, it was an opportunity for me to go and share my vision with another person in the league. You just do the best you can and, unfortunately, at that time, it’s out of your hands.”

O’Day has been in the Roughriders’ front office since 2011, when he was named football operations co-ordinator after ending his playing career. He was named Saskatchewan’s assistant GM in 2012 and held that position until being named interim GM in August of 2015.

He was given his current role in December of 2015 after Jones was hired to run the Roughriders’ football operations.

O’Day’s name seemingly gets raised every time a CFL team starts searching for a GM, but he always has been bypassed. On Wednesday, he was asked if he takes any consolation from constantly being mentioned.

“I guess it depends on how you look at it,” he replied. “Obviously, I’m honoured and I feel privileged that my name does come up and that people are interviewing me, but I also want to make sure that it’s the right opportunity when I do those interviews.

“I’ll reiterate it again that I’m in a great situation with the Roughriders. I’ve been with the organization for 20 years (including 12 as a player) and they treat me very well and I work with great people. We’ve got a strong staff and we’re just looking to turn the corner.”

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The Roughriders announced some roster moves prior to Wednesday’s workout.

Three internationals — defensive lineman Tavarus Dantzler, defensive back David Van Dyke and running back Dennis Norfleet — were signed. They replaced international linebackers Dorian Bell and Tigi Hill and international defensive back Jamal Marshall, all of whom were released.

Among the interested onlookers for the Day 2 practices were former NCAA and USFL star Marcus Dupree and ex-Roughriders offensive co-ordinator Doug Berry, who now lives in Florida.