Day 10 is all wrapped up here at BC Lions Training Camp, and it was a hot one today. Our fearless front-office staff are all getting very prominent farmer tans…some of us even sandal tans. *cough cough* me.
The Lions still got in a solid hour-and-a-half of practice today, focusing mostly on short-yardage drills to get the guys ready for the Lions‘ first preseason game on Friday against the Edmonton Eskimos.
Bryan Burnham was excellent again today with many solid catches in the pass-under-pressure plays, while Tim Brown broke off for a run up the middle in team period. Andre Ramsey and R.J. Dill were making all kinds of room for the running backs to maneuver.
During the short-yardage plays in team, Travis Partridge rushed the ball in for a sure TD, but the defense stepped up with Soloman Elimimian laying a huge tackle on Keola Antolin on another rushing attempt.
The play of the day went to Brandon McDonald for his pick in the team period. McDonald read the ball perfectly all the way in and came streaking across the field to rob Courtney Taylor.
Practice ended early today with a game the team likes to play: can a lineman catch a football? One offensive lineman and one defensive lineman head down the field and test their skills receiving a punt. If they can catch three out of five, the guys get hit the pool early. With clear blue skies, and temperatures around 25 degrees, naturally the pressure was on.
It was truly a battle of the food-themed nicknames. Let’s meet the contestants!
For the offence: from Rutgers College in New Jersey, at 6’6”, 316 lbs. 24 years. R.J. “Pickles” Dill!
It took a few tries for the linemen to get the hang of it. The first punt, they both made a move to catch it, and we all know how 
that ends up. Ya gotta call those ones, guys. Second punt: right through Pickels’ hands. 0-for-2.
Third time’s a charm, right? It’s a long and high punt, Porkchop gets under it, and he makes the catch! As is becoming a regular occurrence here at camp, everyone erupted with “Porkchop! Porkchop!”
Watching: Emmanuel Arceneaux (hand), Stephen Adekolu (knee), Hunter Steward (knee), and Cord Parks (shoulder) did not participate today.