Before the CFL season begins, head coach of the Ottawa Redblacks Bob Dyce anticipates having to make some difficult choices. On Friday, the Redblacks and Montreal Alouettes will play their final preseason game.
Before the CFL season begins, head coach of the Ottawa Redblacks Bob Dyce anticipates having to make some difficult choices.
On Friday, the Redblacks and Montreal Alouettes will play their final preseason game.
The Alouettes will start a young, inexperienced team, but the Redblacks will seize the chance to see some of their starters in action.
With the majority of its veterans back in Ottawa, Ottawa defeated the Hamilton Tiger Cats 31–22 last weekend. However, head coach Dyce and his staff will need to make some tough choices this weekend since there will be layoffs.
Dyce remarked, “I guess I don’t necessarily think about it like this.” “Really, when I’m looking at them I’m evaluating the whole thing and I really want to see and make sure that everybody who’s performing out there is playing at the level that we expect … and they’re playing to the standards that we expect.”
According to Dyce, they will be on the lookout for anyone who might step up their game and make any final judgments even more difficult.
The first glimpse of free agent linebacker Adarius Pickett and quarterback Dru Brown, who was signed and acquired in the off-season, will be given to Ottawa supporters. Defensive end Alonzo Mauldin IV, defensive lineman Cleyon Laing, and receivers Jaelon Acklin and Justin Hardy are among the returning familiar faces.
This will serve as somewhat of a final dress rehearsal for the Redblacks ahead of their season opening on June 13th against Brown’s former team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, as they have a bye in Week 1.
The Redblacks have won only 14 games in the last four years, so the 27-year-old is fully aware of the high expectations in Ottawa.
“I believe that expectations exist constantly,” Brown remarked. You know, there are always expectations because you play this role your entire life. To be really honest, I don’t think about that much personally.
“Really, I want to I want to go out there and compete and show these guys, you know, here that I’m a competitor that I execute at a high level and from that stems their belief in me.”
In his short playing time last weekend, Brown went 4-for-6 for 26 yards. However, on Friday, he will be targeting some experienced receivers.
“I think in practice, we’ve gotten better and better each day” Brown stated. However, it’s okay that there will be new things tomorrow that we haven’t seen.
“It will be interesting to observe how we respond to those things and how we communicate in order to adjust or proceed.”
Dyce has emphasized to his team that they focus on the small things ever since training camp began, and this Friday’s match should give him a fair picture of how well the players can carry them out.
Dyce remarked, “We just want to make sure we’re taking care of the details and staying focused on ourselves.” “In order to keep working toward our objective of becoming a very good football team, we need to know that we can.”
Pickett thinks the Redblacks were a lot better team than their 4-14 record from the previous season suggests, and he is sure that their hard work during training camp will pay off.
“I think it comes down to what we’re doing right now,” Pickett said. “Practicing and just going out with a belief mindset, knowing that I think we should dominate and we can win today.” All of that begins during training camp, in the conference rooms, and continues all week long until the game.”
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