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You are here: Home / Archives for Darren Toney

Den Talk – August 3rd, 2009

August 3, 2009 By Brian Wawryshyn

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The BC Lions returned to the practice field Monday after another loss on their record, and some new faces on the field. With holiday Monday and a beautiful day to take in practice, I ventured down to the Surrey training facility to check out our lethargic Lions.

New faces in town

As was rumored Sunday by @littlemissCFL on Twitter, and posted on BCLionsden.ca, the Lions announced the signing of linebacker JoJuan Armour on Monday, as well as that of former Edmonton Eskimo running back A.J. Harris and defensive end James Edwards. All three players were at practice and it was instantly recognized that Armour was immediately taking on a starting role with the team. The physical Armour, who started his CFL career with the BC Lions, was taking all of the first team reps in Javy Glatt’s middle linebacker position, while Glatt watched from the sidelines. This move was later confirmed by Armour who told the Team 1040 that he was assuming the middle linebacker position.

When asked about the move Glatt told the Team 1040:

“When you lose games, people lose their jobs and they picked me – I’m the guy that takes it and I’ve just got to stay positive about it and help the guys as much as I can, and if I’m here, I’m here, and if not, we’ll deal with that when we get to it.  Basically, I was told I’m not athletic enough and I’m a liability in some things. That’s what happens when you lose. A lot of things come out that are negative and you just have to deal with it.”

Glatt can hardly take all the blame for the team’s defensive woes. The defensive line has been at fault as well, and there are questions about the scheme of the defense itself. But the fact remains that something had to change, and the with the Lions giving up an average of 150 yards rushing per game,the middle linebacker position was a good place to start.

Wally Buono explained it this way:

“Well, we’re not replacing Javy, we’re just changing his responsibilities. Part of (the move) was trying to get a spark into this football team. I’m not going to go into issues. At the end of the day, you’ve got to be able to function and we just wanted to make sure we address a situation that wasn’t good. We didn’t stop the run in the past two weeks and for us to be better as a football club, we have to do that.”

There was no scheme change, with Armour and McKenzie being joined by Korey Banks in certain situations as the nickleback. It will remain to be seen how much the scheme itself has to do with the Lions lack of success with the run, now that Armour is in the mix.

A.J. Harris didn’t seem to have as much of a prominent role at Monday’s practice, and Martell Mallett seemed to be taking all the first team reps, with Darren Toney and Ryan Grice-Mullen returning punts.  According to Lowell Ullrich, Buono confirmed that Harris is here for the time being as insurance behind Mallett, and because Ian Smart was due to have surgery today on his banged up knee. With an average of 5.6 yards per carry last season for the Eskimos and good hands coming out of the backfield, it was not a bad insurance policy to take a chance on.

A quiet bunch

I’ve attended a few Lions practices over the last few years, and one thing was noticeable off the bat at this one, there wasn’t a lot of talking going on. Korey Banks quipped “We still have fans? Really, we still have fans?”, as he jogged out to the practice field, but the usual banter amongst players was muted at best.

Wally involved

Wally Buono took a much more hands on approach in today’s practice, particularly on special teams drills where he was fairly vocal. Buono’s style is usually to sit back and let his coaches run the practice, but obviously desperate times call for a more involved role from the boss.

Logan Watch:

For those still dreaming of the return of Stefan Logan here is an update on his quest to make the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Monday’s Practice Photo Gallery:

[nggallery id=19]

Filed Under: Den Talk, Featured Tagged With: A.J. Harris, Darren Toney, Ian Smart, James Edwards, Javy Glatt, JoJuan Armour, Lowell Ullrich, Martell Mallett, Ryan Grice-Mullen, Stefan Logan, Team 1040, Wally Buono

Lions turnover win to Riders

July 4, 2009 By Brian Wawryshyn

(Regina, SK) The BC Lions were in a generous mood Friday night, and handed the Saskatchewan Roughriders a 28-24 victory at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field on Friday.

Buck Pierce fumbled four times and threw two interceptions under constant pressure from a Rider defense that was seemingly having it’s way with BC’s new look offensive line, which often seemed confused with picking up the blitz giving Pierce little time to look down field allowing 9 sacks. Walter Stith showed that he is a work in progress replacing Rob Murphy, while Dean Valli also had a tough game at times. These deficiencies will need to be addressed or Buck Pierce will end up on the injured list in no time.

The Lions picked up key injuries as well, the most concerning being to running back/kick returner Ian Smart. Smart pulled up lame on a carry and looked to have popped a groin the way his body language was suggesting. Promising newcomer Emmanuel Arceneaux, who had a TD catch on the night, left the game with an apparent shoulder injury. The Lions got big scare came when Omar Morgan rolled up on the leg of Geroy Simon, bending the star receiver’s leg in a way it shouldn’t bend. Simon laid on the turf grabbing his leg but walked off under his own weight and thankfully returned to finish the game.

The loss of Smart left the return game in shambles and Darren Toney looked lost filling in for the CFL’s former special teams player of the year.

On a promising note the Lions defense looked pretty decent at times. Ryan Phillips picked off two Darian Durant passes and took one back for a touchdown, and the front four got decent pressure most of the night, registering three sacks and would have had a bunch more had Durant not been so agile and thrown the ball away on other occasions. Javier Glatt had a strong game for the Lions at linebacker, and Korey Banks looks as though there will be some exciting moments coming from him at his new nickleback position.

The Riders didn’t do themselves a lot of favours trying to win the game. They added turnovers of their own, and almost gave the Lions the win in the dying moments when Ryan Grice-Mullen was wide open deep but dropped the ball. Durant went 18-32 for 313 yards, 0 TD’s and 3 interceptions. 154 of those yards were to star Weston Dressler who served notice to the league he is quickly becoming the premier receiver in the CFL.

Footnotes:

  • The Lions have lost out on the Jamall Johnson sweepstakes as the former Lions linebacker signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Sad that an NFL tryout costs the Lions a good player, who may have had a bigger role here had he not left. The Lions apparently exchanged contract numbers with Reggie Hunt while in Regina, and will now explore the possibility of adding him or JoJuan Armour.
  • With the injury to Ian Smart the rumored signing of RB Tyler Ebell could be finalized this week, or perhaps junior star Andrew Harris will dress. Martell Mallet had some promising carries, and looks to be a similar type of runner as Joe Smith.
  • Former Lion Jason Clermont finished the night with 1 catch for 9 yards, while former Rider Anton McKenzie registered 6 tackles, 1 sack and a forced fumble.
  • If Emmanuel Arceneaux can’t go Friday, we’ll likely see the other promising receiver in camp, Terence Scott get his chance to shine.
  • Lowell Ullrich has more in a nice video blog he composed after the game in Regina. You can view it here.

Filed Under: Featured, Game Recaps Tagged With: Anton McKenzie, Buck Pierce, Darren Toney, Emmanuel Arceneaux, Geroy Simon, Ian Smart, Jason Clermont, Javy Glatt, Korey Banks, Lowell Ullrich, Rob Murphy, Ryan Phillips, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Walter Stith

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