Ticats.ca looks at what players and coaches from both teams had to say leading up to tonight’s game at BC Place…
“A loss at that point was more valuable than a win, because we wouldn’t have focused on our deficiencies” Burris said. “When you win, everything is great. When you lose, you have a tendency to focus on those things, and I would rather deal with them now than late in the season.”
– Henry Burris taking positives from the season opener loss to the Roughriders, Scratching Post
“You have 24 hours to grieve or 24 hours to celebrate, and then we’re moving on, ” Cortez said Monday. “You have to come out and work to get better – no matter how the past week was.”
– Ticats’ Head Coach George Cortez on having short memory, Scratching Post
“I look myself in the mirror and I ask myself if I’m doing everything I can to get these players ready to win” Creehan said. “I evaluate myself, just like I evaluate them.”
– Defensive Coordinator Casey Creehan and how he evaluates his performance as well as the players, Scratching Post
“The margin between winning and losing in this league is very small. When you watch our tape, we didn’t play well ” Creehan said. “But, when you see the small details and minute details, you realize how fixable they are.”
– Defensive Coordinator Casey Creehan on how the small things win games, Scratching Post
“I’m not intimidated because we’re playing the Grey Cup champions. That was last year “ he said. “But they’re still a really good team and you have to respect that.”
–Jamal Johnson on facing the defending champs, Scratching Post
“I’ve been playing Geroy (Simon) and (Arland) Bruce for five years. I learned a lot, and learned how they play. They’ve got good routes out there and they know how to use the field. You’ve got to get used to them and play against them to know what they do.”
– Ticat defensive back Bo Smith on how experience will help against the B.C Lions offense, Ticats.ca
“We’ve got to come together to get this win, because these guys are experienced. They know what they’re doing and they’ve played together for a good while. It’s a testament to them after the way they started out last year. We can’t get too high and we can’t get too low, no matter the result. We’ve got to stay even and keep working.”
– Ticat defensive back Marcell Young on how to combat the experience of B.C, Ticats.ca
“You’ve just got to really study those guys,” says Smith of the Lions’ vaunted receivers. “You’ve got to watch film, and see how they come off the ball, how they run their routes. You have to know what to do in certain situations. If they’re on a certain side for example, they might get the ball more there. We study the receivers and see their waggles and how they line up in their formations.
– Ticat defensive back Bo Smith explaining how important knowing the opposition is, Ticats.ca
“Anything can happen on any given day,” says Burris of football’s nature. “Who would’ve thought that what happened last week would have happened? But things like that happen, especially to a team that’s new to each other and going through the growing pains we went through last week. But it’s about how you bounce back now.
– Henry Burris on bouncing back against the Lions, Ticats.ca
“We’ve got to be ready to keep them off balance by mixing up the pass and the run, but we have to be able to run the ball and get our running backs into the second level,” says the veteran quarterback. “On the back end we have to be able to go after their secondary. We’ve got a very good receiving corps but we’ve got to be able to finish off drives.”
– Henry Burris on what needs to be done during Fridays game, Ticats.ca
“[The Lions] don’t play all zone but they do play a lot of it. It’s hard to peg a percentage because they’ve only played one real game. Some of it was probably controlled by the fact that in the fourth quarter, they were playing with a fairly comfortable lead. They were probably playing a little more basic than they would have been if the score had been 17-16 or something like that.”
– Ticats’ Head Coach George Cortez reading into B.Cs first week win, Ticats.ca
“A new year, new start,’’ said Williams, who clearly did not want to jinx himself when Hamilton’s record versus B.C. was broached. “I guess some teams you just match up better than others. “I mean, we couldn’t beat Winnipeg last year and for some reason it was rough against them. At the same time we had B.C.’s number.”
–Ticat linebacker Renauld Williams on matching up better against different teams, Toronto Sun
“It gives some advantages due to the fact that I’ve played against these guys numerous times and I have a feel for some of the things that they like to do on defence in different circumstances,” said Smilin’ Hank. “But I’m also familiar with the personnel they have as far as how they like to play and the different angles they like to take when they play man and different zone defences and what their strengths and weaknesses are.
“Being able to have that history with these guys and playing with them and against them through all of the heated rivalries that we had out west definitely gives me a leg up. But it’s all about going in there and making it happen now.”
-Henry Burris on his experience playing B.C. and how that will play into this weeks game, Toronto Sun
“You’ve got a bunch of guys on the field who take their jobs very seriously,” he said. “The hard part is not, ‘What can we do?’ Because we all know what we can do. But, can we actually do what we should do? We have a good team. But there’s still a lot of work ahead before we can be called a great team. If we reflect on what we’ve done, the future will pass us by.”
-Lions Defensive back Lin-J Shell on what needs to be done before considering the Lions a great team, Vancouver Sun
“We’re looking to play better against these guys,” said Simon after a wal
kthrough Thursday at B.C. Place Stadium. “We haven’t played particularly well the last couple of years. They’ve had our number, so we’re looking to turn the tide.”
– Geroy Simon on the Ticats having B.C.s number in the past, Times Colonist
“He didn’t use depth charts; he went off the top of his head,” said Benevides. “The man is intelligent to the level where he is a genius.
-New B.C. head coach Mike Benevides on his past experience working with Hamilton’s head coach George Cortez, The Province
“I could have have played better. I got a couple big hits on me last year, in the last game we played in Hamilton. But last year was last year. I’m looking to gain on the momentum that we achieved last week.”
-Geroy on his performance last year and how this is a new year, Calgary Herald
“It’s back to business as usual. I don’t have to worry about answering those questions and I can just go out, prepare and not really worry about the pressures of the fans and family and wanting to celebrate a big moment. It feels good.”
B.C. receiver Geroy Simon on returning to normal following his passing of Milt Stegall for first on the CFL all-time reception yardage list. Vancouver Sun
“I’m different than Wally that way. Every case will be treated separately. Jon needed some down time again, but in another 48 hours, if he’s ready to go, we’re going with him. We came out of camp with a game plan for Winnipeg and Hamilton. I know Wally was hard on that, but for me — I want the guy to do some work — but there is no hard-and-fast rule.”
Lions coach Mike Benevides on the possible return of left guard Jon Hameister-Ries for Friday. Vancouver Province,
“We’ve got to be ready to keep them off balance by mixing up the pass and the run, but we have to be able to run the ball and get our running backs into the second level,” says the veteran quarterback. “On the back end we have to be able to go after their secondary. We’ve got a very good receiving corps but we’ve got to be able to finish off drives.”
-Burris on what needs to be done against B.C., Ticats.ca
