Training camps are always a rough time of the year for everybody and, unfortunately, you’ve got to have cutdowns. It’s always a tough time.

But once this is done, we’ve got our eyes focused on the bigger picture now. We’ve got to take it one game at a time and we’re trying to do what we’ve got to do to get the Cup.

Training camp is about competition and that was definitely the case at my position after we signed Joe Lobendahn. In a sense, you’ve got to see it as a challenge. They’re bringing in a good linebacker. He has a name for himself and he’s done great things in this league.

It just makes you step your game up. I love competition — competition is the way to get the best out of people and I felt like I had a good camp and that it brought the best out of me. It’s the same with Joe.

And it’s not over — there are still 18 games to go and a lot of football to be played. We’re still competing every day.

For our defence, things are going great. Rick Campbell, our new defensive coordinator, has come in and he’s been very professional with his job. He gives us a lot of leeway as players to go out and kind of figure things out for ourselves.

As a player, you like someone who will talk to you and be able to make corrections. Everyone is fond of Rick and fond of his staff and we like where we’re headed.

I like that we have nine days from our last pre-season game to our first regular-season game after coming off a tough training camp and those two-a-days. A few extra days definitely won’t hurt. It gives us a little more time to prepare for Montreal, who are going to be a tough test to start the season.

Juwan Simpson, #12
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