Training camp: Chris Jones can’t wait to get started

Nearly six months have passed since the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 2017 season ended.

There have been 25 weekends from the time the Roughriders lost to the Toronto Argonauts in the Eastern Final on Nov. 19 to today — and Chris Jones has taken just three of those weekends off to mark Christmas, New Year’s and Easter.

“Other than that, we’ve been on the road every weekend huntin’ (players),” Jones said during a recent CFL-sponsored conference call. “We’ve got a great roster put together. I can’t wait to get it started.”

It starts Sunday in Saskatoon, where the Roughriders are holding training camp.

Jones is entering his third season as Saskatchewan’s vice-president of football operations, general manager and head coach. He and his staff have tinkered with the roster since December of 2015, trying to get it to a place where Jones wants it.

In 2016, the Roughriders went 5-13-0 and missed the playoffs in Jones’ first season at the helm — the first time in his CFL career that his team hadn’t qualified for the post-season.

A second off-season of adding and subtracting players helped the 2017 Roughriders go 10-8-0. They finished fourth in the West Division, but crossed over into the East playoffs.

Saskatchewan knocked off the Ottawa Redblacks in the Eastern Semi-Final, but a loss the following weekend to the host Argos ended the Roughriders’ season.

More roster massaging was undertaken, with players like quarterback Zach Collaros, defensive tackle Zack Evans, defensive end Charleston Hughes and tailback Jerome Messam being added and others like offensive linemen Derek Dennis and Peter Dyakowski, quarterback Kevin Glenn and linebacker Henoc Muamba being released.

The staff’s off-season has been filled with scouting trips to numerous NCAA bowl games and all-star contests, to free-agent camps and to mini-camps in hopes of finding new players who could push the returnees — even though Jones already was molding the roster into one that he liked.

“Our focus is always to try to bring as much competition and great players as we possibly can bring,” Jones said. “When I was at Alabama, I had the good fortune to be around a recruiting co-ordinator who had come from Florida State back in their heyday. He told me, ‘Man, when you can start turning away great players, that’s when you’ve put yourself in a good position.’ Right now, we can be very selective on who we take.”

That’s not to say there aren’t holes that need to be addressed during training camp.

Bruce Campbell, who was the starting left tackle last season, wasn’t re-signed after he became a free agent. Even if Campbell had been re-signed, he faces a two-game suspension for a positive doping test.

Sam Eguavoen is to be moved from weak-side linebacker to the middle to replace Muamba, so a new Will has to be found. That likely will be a national, since Jones wants to have a Canadian linebacker on the field at all times — and Derrick Moncrief appears set at Sam.

Other newcomers will get a look on the defensive side of the ball as the Roughriders continue to search for the best lineup.

“If (the opponents) don’t score, we don’t lose, so we’ve got to make sure that we play great defence …,” Jones said. “There’s going to be a few contested positions where guys have to come in and earn those spots.”

Jones also said the quarterback position “is going to be really interesting” during training camp.

He has stressed repeatedly that the acquisition of Collaros doesn’t mean the former Hamilton Tiger-Cats pivot will be the starter. Despite Collaros’ resumé and salary, he’ll have to beat out Brandon Bridge, Marquise Williams and David Watford for the No. 1 job.

Last season in Hamilton, Collaros was replaced as the starter by Jeremiah Masoli after the Tiger-Cats dropped their first eight games. Collaros plans to use that as a learning experience as he prepares for his first training camp with the Roughriders.

“In pro football, you have to prove yourself every practice, every rep and every game,” Collaros said during the conference call. “I’ve always had that mentality and that’s not going to change.

“As a quarterback, as a player and as a competitor, you’re always looking to improve,” he added. “From that standpoint, I’m trying to improve in every aspect of my game, whether it’s physically or mentally.”

The 2017 Roughriders got off to a slow start in the regular season, losing their first two games and three of their first four before hitting their stride. Jones wants the 2018 edition to get things figured out earlier — and training camp should help with that.

“The thing I do like about it is you’re going to know right away because we play a game in the first week,” said Jones, whose squad is to visit the Edmonton Eskimos on May 27 for its first pre-season game. “In the first two days, you’re going to find out if a guy plays well when the lights come on.

“We’ve had plenty of guys that looked good in practice, but as soon as those lights come on, he wasn’t the player we thought he was. We can make some decisions a week into our camp.”