David Cox
A date with the Lions.
The Calgary Stampeders returned to the practice field ahead of their clash with the BC Lions at McMahon Stadium on Sunday at 5 p.m.
The Stamps come into Week 7 having fallen to the Blue Bombers in Winnipeg 41-37 last week. It was a back and forth game that saw the Bombers pull away late.
Now they will look to get back to .500 this weekend at home.
Eyes on the Defensive Line
The defensive line is a large topic of conversation at practice so far this week. General manager and head coach Dave Dickenson spoke about potentially needing more from the group.
“More hits, more sacks, more big plays, more pressuring the quarterback,” he explained. “I was talking to Mike Rose and you can’t just say I’m going to try harder because they’ve been giving great effort. Play the system, play with confidence though, they have to play with edge and hopefully they will come.
“We do want more (sacks), sometimes football is just not what it is. You can wish all you want, but the game flow and how teams scheme you matter but yeah we want other teams quarterbacks to know where they are.”
Defensive line coach Juwan Simpson spoke with Stamps TV after practice about what he has seen from his group.
“The thing is you can’t get caught up in it,” he said. “It’s a team game, what’s best for the team, what is working and what is not. We’ve missed some opportunities but at the end of the day I’d rather get these wins over sacks any day.”
It’s another year of injuries for the Stamps specifically in the defensive backfield and Dickenson says it’s starting to get frustrating.
“I am (frustrated) because it has been three years in a row,” he said. “We don’t know why, we don’t do too much in practice but maybe it’s just bad luck. But those guys, in our system. The continuity of the back end is very important and it hasn’t happened for three years in a row now.”
The injury report following Day 1 of practice.@MFradiology | #TogetherWeRide🐎 pic.twitter.com/nwLXVx3qUQ
— Calgary Stampeders (@calstampeders) July 17, 2024