Trevor Harris was literally hounded for a photograph at Coors Light Riders Training Camp on Thursday.
The always-accommodating quarterback cheerfully related the tail — er, tale — upon being asked whether, at this early stage in his tenure with the Green and White, he has experienced one of those this-could-only-happen-in-Saskatchewan moments.
“Yeah,” Harris responded. “A guy asked me to take a picture with his dog.
“I was like, ‘Man, this is great! The dog’s friendly, right?’
“It was one of those moments that just happened maybe an hour ago between practices. I was eating an orange and the guy was like, ‘Can you take a picture with my dog?’ I was like, ‘Heck, yeah! Let’s go!’ ”
The growler was friendly, as advertised, so there wasn’t any threat of a snapshot.
(Impromptu joke review: Woof.)
PASSING WITH FLYING COLOURS
It was a banner Thursday for the quarterbacks during back-to-back workouts at Griffiths Stadium.
The passers were a collective 45-for-55 in 12-on-12 and seven-on-seven situations. Accuracy rate: 81.8 per cent.
“I thought it was pretty good today,” Head Coach Craig Dickenson said when asked about the quarterbacks’ performance. “Trevor said this and it’s true: It’s starting to slow down for him.
“They’ve been in the system now for a week, almost, and it’s starting to click. We’ll evaluate based on the games, but I thought offensively it was a good day.”
Harris, who went 19-for-24, was a high-profile free-agent signing on Feb. 14. Mason Fine, Jake Dolegala and Shea Patterson are competing for the No. 2 spot.
“They’re all getting a lot of reps,” Dickenson said.
“All three of them bring different things to the table, so it’s really a unique and exciting group.
“I couldn’t tell you who’s in the lead or who’s trailing. They’re all doing a good job.”
THURSDAY TIDBITS
- In light of the precision demonstrated by the quarterbacks on Thursday, opportunities for interceptions were infrequent. However, pass knockdowns were registered by defensive backs Nelson Lokombo, Jaxon Ford and Rolan Milligan Jr.
- Jake Herslow treated onlookers to his usual assortment of nice catches, one of which was made deep in the end zone to complete a long connection with Harris. Herslow punctuated the TD catch with a dance.
- Shortly thereafter, Herslow made a fingertip catch while running a pattern over the middle. He also hauled in a pass from Fine deep in the end zone.
- Thursday’s first throw by Harris was a perfectly placed deep ball down the left sideline and into the hands of Derel Walker.
- Fine found Mitch Picton on a deep corner route for a major. Picton subsequently snared a Patterson dart over the middle. In a different drill, Picton’s resounding block cleared a path for a running back on a swing pass.
- Kendall Watson made a leaping catch over the middle and later finished a play down the deep right sideline by catching a perfectly placed Patterson pass in tight coverage.
- Kudos as well to Kalija Lipscomb for a leaping catch over the middle.
- Kaare Vedvik’s first punt on Thursday was a moonshot. Hang time: 4.59 seconds.
- Brett Lauther attempted two 53-yard field goals on Thursday and made them both.
- Also notable: A running play that was diagnosed and abruptly terminated by middle linebacker Larry Dean, a three-time All-Star.
CHEERS FOR THE CHAIR
Barry Clarke received a robust response from the players before and after his post-practice address to the team on Thursday.
“He’s the chairman of the board and he’s one of us,” Dickenson said.
“We like it when he comes out. He did it last year as well. We knew he was in town for the practice, so we asked if he could speak to the team. I was glad and thankful that he was able to do that.”
What was Clarke’s message?
“He’s a great guy and he talked about how much the community loves the Riders and how much the community respects what they do and that they’re important,” Dickenson replied.
“He also expressed that it’s important that we as an organization — because he’s one of us — appreciate the status that we have in the community and that we act in such a way that they’re proud of us.
“We have a responsibility to give back to the community and to show the community the same sort of love that they show us.
“That was his message and I thought it was perfect.”
SHORT SNORTS
- Offensive tackle Jordan Tucker, who suffered a leg injury during Tuesday’s practice, was to undergo an MRI on Thursday. The results were not available when Dickenson met with reporters around noon-hour.
- The Roughriders announced on Thursday the signing of American linebacker T.J. Brunson, who played at the University of South Carolina before being selected by the New York Giants in the seventh round (238th overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft. As well, the Roughriders announced the release of American receiver Isaiah McKoy, who had joined the team last weekend.
