Ottawa Redblacks look to cut down on pass interference penalties
Turn on the TV, tune in any CFL game ? count the number of penalties for pass interference.
Some are deserved, others are iffy, some are just ridiculous.
The Ottawa Redblacks have drawn their share of ? some would say too many ? PI fouls. It?s something they can?t afford to have happen Sunday when they play the Toronto Argos at TD Place. With Ricky Ray sidelined and Logan Kilgore handling the quarterback duties for Toronto, that should be an advantage for Ottawa?s defensive backs. But with the way things have been going this season, who knows?
The number of flags has been frustrating for Redblacks defensive backs coach Ike Charlton, who says his team is being picked on for its aggressiveness.
?For me, personally, they have a hard time officiating us because we?re pretty much the only team in the CFL which plays an aggressive style of defence with our secondary guys getting up and pressing,? said Charlton. ?If you look at the other eight teams, a lot of their guys play off (the receiver) seven or eight yards. It seems as though we?re getting all those calls against us. (The officials) have a hard job, but you wish there was more consistency. I?m just not a fan of giving up 300 or 400 yards passing each game.
?Offensive coaches are coaching it this way, ?Go run into the DB, you?re going to get the call, we?re going to challenge it.? Can you blame offensive coaches for teaching that? No. I would.
?But you have to control what you can control, so maybe you change a technique or two here or there. We have to coach it better and hopefully we can play the situation better. Hopefully they get to the point where they understand and know how to referee us.?
Having stated his point of view, Charlton knows the officials are in a tough situation.
?It?s very difficult,? he said. ?I tip my hat to those guys. As coaches and players you definitely want things to go your way all the time, but it?s not going to happen that way.?
As the DB coach, Charlton is the heart of soul of a unit that has been labelled DBlock. He says the defensive backs have been good, but can get better.
Said Charlton: ?Do we want to make more INTs? Yes. But the guys are playing pretty good. We rank third in the CFL in total defence.
?We?ve had a different lineup pretty well every week. Last year, we were able to keep guys healthy for the most part. This year, we?ve been fluctuating with guys in and out. This guy?s in, that guy?s in, this guy?s out, that guy?s out. From that standpoint, I?m not happy, but it?s something that?s out of our control. I have to make sure everybody is in the next man up mentality. That?s something I had to develop when I was down south playing in the NFL. I treat them all the same. I talk to everybody in the room and I hold everybody accountable that they have to know what to do ? you never know what can happen in the course of a game.?
The statistics would look even better, Charlton said, if there weren?t so many missed tackles.
?Take away the missed tackles we?ve had and nobody throws for more than 300 yards against us,? he said. ?That?s a big plus in the CFL. You talk about a quarterback throwing for 300 yards, but if you make a tackle ? for instance the first game of the year, everybody?s high on (Edmonton Eskimos QB) Mike Reilly throwing for 300 yards. Take away 170-some yards YAC (yards after catch) and he has about 180 yards passing throughout the whole game. That?s the frustrating part about that, we have to be able to tackle better and finish plays.?
PEDAL TO THE METAL
On the heels of some wild finishes ? the Hamilton Tiger-Cats storming back from a 25-point deficit and the Calgary Stampeders scoring a couple of touchdowns in the final 2 1/2 minutes to force overtime, then beating B.C.? Redblacks coach Rick Campbell said it?s important to keep intensity through to the finish, especially when points can go on the board real quick: ?That?s what people like about the CFL. It?s fun to watch. It?s not always as fun to coach in those games. That?s why those last three minutes, with the stop time, that?s why the rule is in there so the team that is behind has a chance to come back.?
THE END AROUND
As of Saturday morning, there were still 500 tickets left for Sunday?s game ? Mike Moore will step into the lineup at defensive end in place of injured Arnaud Gascon-Nadon. DL Landon Cohen is out of the lineup, while OL Jason Lauzon-Seguin is back in. Said Campbell of Moore: ?He?s shows the ability to rush the passer.? ? Running back Travon Van (knee), who is on the six-game injured list, tweeted Friday night, ?I?m ready to play with my team again? Said Campbell: ?I?m glad to hear that. He?s not playing this week, but I?m hoping he?s back as soon as possible. Once he?s cleared, we?ll consider that.?
JACKSON RAVES ABOUT BURRIS
The guy the defensive backs call Uncle Ernie and the receivers call Bighead says he?s amazed by what 41-year-old Henry Burris can do on a football field.
?It?s incredible,? said the 29-year-old Ernest Jackson. ?To sit back and see him do that, it?s almost like magic, like how?s he doing it? The other day, he dislocated my finger throwing a ball. I was like, ?How?s he still slinging a ball that hard?? Sometimes when I look at Hank, I?m wondering, ?Can I still be running around like that when I?m 41???
Jackson is one of a group of elite Redblacks receivers, catching 84 passes for 1,036 yards in 2015. While his pace is behind that so far in 2016 ? 24 catches for 251 yards ? he?s confident his turn will come. Maybe it will happen Sunday at TD Place vs. the Toronto Argos.
?It?s all about fitting in, especially with our offensive scheme,? he said.
?My time is going to come. It?s going to come around to my time, I?m just waiting for that. I feel like we?re the best set of receivers, but that?s the way every team?s receivers should feel. If you don?t feel that way, you?re never going to be that group.?
Jackson expects the Argos will try and shut down Ottawa?s deep pass routes.
?We?re probably going to get a lot of underneath stuff, try to make yards after catch, like Greg (Ellingson) did (July 13 at BMO Field, when he had 218 yards in receptions).?
Turn on the TV, tune in any CFL game ? count the number of penalties for pass interference.
Some are deserved, others are iffy, some are just ridiculous.
The Ottawa Redblacks have drawn their share of ? some would say too many ? PI fouls. It?s something they can?t afford to have happen Sunday when they play the Toronto Argos at TD Place. With Ricky Ray sidelined and Logan Kilgore handling the quarterback duties for Toronto, that should be an advantage for Ottawa?s defensive backs. But with the way things have been going this season, who knows?
The number of flags has been frustrating for Redblacks defensive backs coach Ike Charlton, who says his team is being picked on for its aggressiveness.
?For me, personally, they have a hard time officiating us because we?re pretty much the only team in the CFL which plays an aggressive style of defence with our secondary guys getting up and pressing,? said Charlton. ?If you look at the other eight teams, a lot of their guys play off (the receiver) seven or eight yards. It seems as though we?re getting all those calls against us. (The officials) have a hard job, but you wish there was more consistency. I?m just not a fan of giving up 300 or 400 yards passing each game.
?Offensive coaches are coaching it this way, ?Go run into the DB, you?re going to get the call, we?re going to challenge it.? Can you blame offensive coaches for teaching that? No. I would.
?But you have to control what you can control, so maybe you change a technique or two here or there. We have to coach it better and hopefully we can play the situation better. Hopefully they get to the point where they understand and know how to referee us.?
Having stated his point of view, Charlton knows the officials are in a tough situation.
?It?s very difficult,? he said. ?I tip my hat to those guys. As coaches and players you definitely want things to go your way all the time, but it?s not going to happen that way.?
As the DB coach, Charlton is the heart of soul of a unit that has been labelled DBlock. He says the defensive backs have been good, but can get better.
Said Charlton: ?Do we want to make more INTs? Yes. But the guys are playing pretty good. We rank third in the CFL in total defence.
?We?ve had a different lineup pretty well every week. Last year, we were able to keep guys healthy for the most part. This year, we?ve been fluctuating with guys in and out. This guy?s in, that guy?s in, this guy?s out, that guy?s out. From that standpoint, I?m not happy, but it?s something that?s out of our control. I have to make sure everybody is in the next man up mentality. That?s something I had to develop when I was down south playing in the NFL. I treat them all the same. I talk to everybody in the room and I hold everybody accountable that they have to know what to do ? you never know what can happen in the course of a game.?
The statistics would look even better, Charlton said, if there weren?t so many missed tackles.
?Take away the missed tackles we?ve had and nobody throws for more than 300 yards against us,? he said. ?That?s a big plus in the CFL. You talk about a quarterback throwing for 300 yards, but if you make a tackle ? for instance the first game of the year, everybody?s high on (Edmonton Eskimos QB) Mike Reilly throwing for 300 yards. Take away 170-some yards YAC (yards after catch) and he has about 180 yards passing throughout the whole game. That?s the frustrating part about that, we have to be able to tackle better and finish plays.?
PEDAL TO THE METAL
On the heels of some wild finishes ? the Hamilton Tiger-Cats storming back from a 25-point deficit and the Calgary Stampeders scoring a couple of touchdowns in the final 2 1/2 minutes to force overtime, then beating B.C.? Redblacks coach Rick Campbell said it?s important to keep intensity through to the finish, especially when points can go on the board real quick: ?That?s what people like about the CFL. It?s fun to watch. It?s not always as fun to coach in those games. That?s why those last three minutes, with the stop time, that?s why the rule is in there so the team that is behind has a chance to come back.?
THE END AROUND
As of Saturday morning, there were still 500 tickets left for Sunday?s game ? Mike Moore will step into the lineup at defensive end in place of injured Arnaud Gascon-Nadon. DL Landon Cohen is out of the lineup, while OL Jason Lauzon-Seguin is back in. Said Campbell of Moore: ?He?s shows the ability to rush the passer.? ? Running back Travon Van (knee), who is on the six-game injured list, tweeted Friday night, ?I?m ready to play with my team again? Said Campbell: ?I?m glad to hear that. He?s not playing this week, but I?m hoping he?s back as soon as possible. Once he?s cleared, we?ll consider that.?
JACKSON RAVES ABOUT BURRIS
The guy the defensive backs call Uncle Ernie and the receivers call Bighead says he?s amazed by what 41-year-old Henry Burris can do on a football field.
?It?s incredible,? said the 29-year-old Ernest Jackson. ?To sit back and see him do that, it?s almost like magic, like how?s he doing it? The other day, he dislocated my finger throwing a ball. I was like, ?How?s he still slinging a ball that hard?? Sometimes when I look at Hank, I?m wondering, ?Can I still be running around like that when I?m 41???
Jackson is one of a group of elite Redblacks receivers, catching 84 passes for 1,036 yards in 2015. While his pace is behind that so far in 2016 ? 24 catches for 251 yards ? he?s confident his turn will come. Maybe it will happen Sunday at TD Place vs. the Toronto Argos.
?It?s all about fitting in, especially with our offensive scheme,? he said.
?My time is going to come. It?s going to come around to my time, I?m just waiting for that. I feel like we?re the best set of receivers, but that?s the way every team?s receivers should feel. If you don?t feel that way, you?re never going to be that group.?
Jackson expects the Argos will try and shut down Ottawa?s deep pass routes.
?We?re probably going to get a lot of underneath stuff, try to make yards after catch, like Greg (Ellingson) did (July 13 at BMO Field, when he had 218 yards in receptions).?
