Notebook: Orlandus Harris loves the great outdoors

SASKATOON — Orlandus Harris isn’t lost in space.

The 29-year-old defensive back is taking part in his first training camp with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, who signed him this off-season before their April mini-camp in Bradenton, Fla.

Harris has plenty of professional experience, but it’s all indoors. His career comprises stops with the Bloomington Edge of Champions Indoor Football, the Spokane Empire of the Indoor Football League and the Massachusetts Pirates of the National Arena League.

Covering territory on the expansive CFL field instead of in a hockey rink is a tad different for Harris, but the 6-foot-1, 200-pound product of Chattanooga, Tenn., has handled it well.

“It makes you run a little bit more, but that’s one thing that I have to my advantage,” said Harris, who has been picking off passes with some regularity during the Roughriders’ camp. “I have a little bit of speed under me.”

Harris was a defensive back when he was recruited by Eastern Kentucky University, but he moved to receiver in his first season with the Colonels.

After a torn knee ligament forced him to sit out his junior season at EKU, Harris transferred to Glenville State College to complete his eligibility.

Despite getting a recommendation from one of his training partners — some guy named Peyton Manning — Harris wasn’t selected in the 2014 NFL draft. That sent him on the path to arena football.

He had a workout with the NFL’s Chicago Bears in December of 2016, but didn’t get a contract offer. This season, as the Pirates prepared for a playoff game, Harris headed to Bradenton and the Roughriders’ mini-camp.

Orlandus Harris

Saskatchewan head coach-GM Chris Jones flipped Harris over to defence, where he has been trying to put his arena experience to good use.

“It has some similarities,” Harris said. “They have the waggle there, so you have to guard the waggle. I played offence (in the arena leagues), but I snuck in a couple of defensive reps during practice.”

As he tries to get readjusted to DB, Harris is taking instruction from Saskatchewan veterans like Crezdon Butler and Ed Gainey — even though Harris is older than Gainey and just one year younger than Butler.

“I’m 29, but I say I’m a young 29 because I wasn’t given an opportunity (in the NFL),” Harris said. “It wasn’t the right time for me. I’m a healthy 29 — and I’m still running.”

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The Roughriders head to Edmonton on Sunday to play their first of two pre-season games and a number of regulars aren’t expected to play much if at all.

With that in mind, Jones and his staff altered the repetitions during Friday’s practice at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

“We tried to rep some of the guys who are going to get the majority of the reps (Sunday),” Jones said, “to try to make sure that they got more opportunities so that they can be sharper on game day.”

Jones plans to make known his plans for a quarterback rotation on Saturday, but he noted Friday that “there aren’t going to be any secrets” because evaluations of the backups are ongoing.

As a result, B.J. Daniels, David Watford and Marquise Williams are expected to get the bulk of the action at quarterback instead of Brandon Bridge and Zach Collaros.

It’s unknown if players who have been on the limp — including linebackers Brandyn Bartlett and Micah Teitz, defensive back Denzel Radford, defensive lineman Rakim Cox and receiver Antwane Grant — will be ready to play Sunday.

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Collaros has been getting a steady dose of Jones’ defence during training camp, with a tenacious pass rush and a variety of blitzes limiting his time to throw.

Not surprisingly, the veteran pivot sees the benefit in having two of the CFL’s top pass-rushers on his team.

Saskatchewan will deploy Willie Jefferson and Charleston Hughes at defensive end in 2018, which means Collaros will get a break from having to face them in games.

“You couldn’t even tell how big (Jefferson) was on film until you got out there in person and saw him,” Collaros said. “When Charleston signed this off-season, I was thinking to myself, ‘Thank God I don’t have to go against that dude anymore.’ He’s just the biggest pain in the ass to go against …

“I’m really excited to see what they’re going to be able to do. Coach Jones has a great system so I’m sure they’re really going to flourish in it.”

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During a recent CFL-sponsored conference call, B.C. Lions head coach Wally Buono said he planned to be “a little more reckless” in his final season on the sideline.

“I’m going to work harder maybe at trying to win,” Buono told reporters. “And if that means I have to take more risks, what’s the worst that could happen? They’re going to fire me? So if they do, God bless them. I’ll just have an earlier retirement than I’ll already have.”

Jones was asked if he has noticed during his career that CFL coaches keep the risks to a minimum.

“I think they’ve always been kind of conservative,” he replied. “I had the good pleasure of working with Don (Matthews, then the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes), who was not conservative.

“He made you look at things a lot differently than what the average person did. He looked at things exactly the opposite, usually. That was beneficial to me.”