The Toronto Argonauts took the field as a full team for the first time on Sunday, kicking off the team’s 2016 Training Camp at the University of Guelph’s Alumni Stadium.
Sunday morning marked the first back-to-back practice of this year’s camp, officially beginning preparation for the 2016 pre-season and regular season.
The return of football brought a high level of energy to the club on Sunday and the team’s tempo was considerably higher than last week’s three-day rookies and quarterbacks camp with the veterans back on the field.
“It was faster with the vets here,” said quarterback Ricky Ray. “In rookie camp there wasn’t as many guys and you could feel the tempo slow down as guys got tired.”
Head coach Scott Milanovich wasted no time in leading the team through a high-intensity session, driving the competition by squaring the top units up against each other throughout the day.
“It was a good start, the tempo was good and the energy was good,” said Milanovich. “The hard thing is doing that for six straight months.”
After signing a number of long-time CFL veterans in the off-season, Milanovich was impressed by the group on Sunday, praising the leadership that the group was already displaying on their first day in Double Blue.
“Being so young last year, we were missing some of that leadership,” explained Milanovich, “I think these guys are really going to help us as far as coming together as a unit.”
Despite his praise for the vets, Milanovich re-emphasized the team’s position on talent evaluation, making it clear that veteran leadership is a must, but competition would be open over the next three weeks.
“Ultimately we’ve got to have some veteran leadership. If it’s night and day between a veteran that’s done it and a guy that’s new that’s just playing better, we’re going to go with the young guy, and I think we’ve shown that in the past”, said Milanovich. “Ideally, I think we have a nice mix” [of rookies and veterans].
The Argonauts full team will practice for the first time on the grass field at the University of Guelph tomorrow, May 30 at 7:30 a.m. To view the University of Guelph campus map, click here.
Training Camp Day 1 Anecdotes:
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