Fraser Caldwell
Ticats.ca
Cortez and Burris: Giguere is “a specimen”
In the wake of their Monday morning training session at Ron Joyce Stadium, both the Ticats Head Coach and Director of Football Operations George Cortez and star quarterback Henry Burris spoke of the evident talents displayed by recent receiving acquisition Sam Giguere.
For his part, Cortez indicated that the wide out’s fundamental quickness is his greatest asset, and should be observable in the Ticats’ preseason match ups beginning on Wednesday.
“He’s very fast, and hopefully he’ll be a very explosive player,” said the Ticat coach of Giguere. “It’s certainly all very new to him. He asked me when we signed him what the biggest difference would be up here and I told him it would be the movement. And it was to start, as it is for any guy who comes here from down South. He’s shown that he can catch the ball and I’ll be very interested to see him play in a game.”
Burris echoed his coach’s opinion of his young receiver, and argued that Giguere’s unique combination of gifts is forcing an adjustment on the quarterback himself.
“I’m adjusting to a guy of his speed and stature,” said the veteran pivot. “The guy is a specimen. It just shows you how hard he trains to prepare himself both physically and mentally. The kid has so much talent and you can tell that he’s worked with some great people in the past because he’s a really smooth route runner. But when he’s ready to turn it on, that kid gets moving pretty fast.”
Cortez: Wednesday will test learning process
When asked what he was hoping to see from his offence during Wednesday night’s preseason opener against the Argos, Cortez stated that the game would stand as a marker of his players’ progress and separate those capable of performing in a game situation from the rest of the pack.
“I want to see who’s learned what we’ve been teaching them,” said Cortez. “Because, when the lights come on, some guys’ circuits burn out. I want to see if the guys that we think can play know what to do. I’d like to see us score some points as well.”
The Ticats’ kick return duty has been a position of particularly open competition thus far in the absence of Marcus Thigpen. The Black and Gold’s bench boss confirmed on Monday that the position was very much up for grabs, and would be a point of evaluation throughout the preseason.
“It seems like we have a number of guys who could be returners,” said Cortez. “So that’s one of the things that we hope to see in the preseason. Of the guys we put back there, who shows us the ability to be a returner? Obviously, Chris Williams returned some kicks last year and there are guys who have been here, but there’s a whole group of guys who haven’t.”
Cortez on Burris: learning new words and studying receivers
The Ticats coach took a moment to discuss his star quarterback’s acclimation to his new environment on Monday, arguing that one of Burris’ greatest challenges lies in updating the playbook that he and Cortez worked with in Calgary.
While many of the schemes themselves have remained the same, the coding for them is understandably different. The result on occasion is a moment of nostalgia.
“Henry’s biggest adjustment – like mine – is that every once in a while we call a play by the old words,” explained Cortez. “We’ve changed a lot of the terminology because there are a lot of people in the league who have been through Calgary and you can’t leave it. They might actually figure out what you’re doing if you did.”
Another obvious learning curve for Burris lies in familiarizing himself with each of his receivers and their unique tendencies on the football field. Cortez recalled the example of Doug Flutie’s time in Calgary to illustrate the nuance involved in a quarterback’s relationship with his pass catchers.
“Obviously, he’s throwing to different guys,” said Cortez. “The biggest transition with quarterbacks is understanding when you’re watching a guy running, what he’s about to do. You only get that by doing it a lot. I remember when Doug (Flutie) came to Calgary in ‘92, he talked about how it was so much easier in ‘93 because now he knew when Allen Pitts leaned a certain way, where he was going. And it took a whole year to learn.”
Burris: Argos will be a measuring stick
Henry Burris addressed the imminent opening of the exhibition schedule in the wake of the Ticats’ Monday morning practice, underlining the team’s excitement to test itself against outside opposition.
“You play against your team enough, and you’re ready to go out and play and make sure that there are live bullets flying around you,” said Burris. “So we’re itching to get out there and play against somebody else and see where we’re at right now. We feel like we’ve had a great training camp. It’s been hard-fought.
“You’re looking forward to the game days when the fans come out and you can actually get excited to play in game-time situations. We need to measure where we’re at right now to make sure that we’re on target to be ready for Saskatchewan when they come in here on the 29th.”
Burris: Offence moving to realize potential
Quarterbacking an offence with enormous potential, Burris indicated on Monday that he remains focused squarely on the daily process needed to make good on that promise.
“I’ve played with some very talented offences in the past, but the capabilities of this offence exceed those of any other offence that I’ve experienced,” said the veteran pivot. “I’m just focusing on the now, making sure that we get whatever we need to get done to make sure that we can become a great offence. But we still have young people who are very new to this offence and all of the terminology that we’re throwing at them.
“So right now, it’s a play-by-play and game-to-game thing. But I’m making sure that we stay on course to become that offence that we possibly could become.”
Burris stated that he is very pleased with the progression of the Ticats’ offensive unit thus far, but that the next step was to demonstrate the dependability needed to be successful in the longer term.
“With the guys that we have I see that we can make plays,” said Burris. “Regardless of who we go up against. That’s how you have to feel. Right now we’re at a position where we’re executing very well up to this point. But we’ve got to make sure that we’re consistent at doing that. That’s the only thing that you look forward to becoming, which is that consistent offence. It’s always a work in progress but we’ll see what happens come Wednesday night.”
