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Features June 3, 2024

Practice Notebook – 03.06.24

Monday was the first day of practice following the final roster being announced for the Calgary Stampeders. With the group now set, the Stamps look ahead to the home opener on Friday night against Hamilton. GET YOUR TICKETS!

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Tough Decisions

The Stampeders made some hard choices with their roster this year, including moving on from Titus Wall. Head Coach and General Manager Dave Dickenson says it never gets any easier.

“I mean, really honestly, we had some other younger guys that played really well, it doesn’t mean that Titus didn’t,” explained Dickenson. “Tough decisions, though, I knew it would be. There were some guys that you could feel the emotion and I was one of them. He’s a guy that I love and respect, but you just try to make those decisions the best you can.

“We’ve made wrong decisions before. I brought up to the team Charleston Hughes got cut when he was a rookie, a couple of weeks later he’s back and pretty much an all-timer. It’s hard and it was hard, but we tried to do the best we can, be honest with them, and move on as a team.

 

Five Quarterbacks

The Stampeders decided to stick with five quarterbacks on their final roster with Jake Maier, Matt Shiltz, Tommy Stevens, Logan Bonner and Kyle Vantrease.

Dickenson says it’s because they just like the talent of all of their guys.

“We think we’ve got some good ones,” he said. “There’s value in the quarterback position. If you’re strong in the trenches, in the quarterback position, in Canadian content, I think you can win a lot of games. Those are certainly areas we looked at.”

Labrosse Makes The Squad

Stampeders 2024 first-round pick Ben Labrosse was one of the additions to the team this season. The defensive back talked about his first CFL camp being in the books.

“It was good, I definitely got a lot of learning to do,” said Labrosse. “I had to put in some work in the film room and on the field too. Camp was good, it went smooth and I learned a lot. The other DBs are there to help you too, so it’s a good group of guys to be around.

Labrosse grabbed an interception in the final preseason game against Winnipeg and spoke about what he saw on the play.

“My focus was being more patient on the routes,” he explained. “Once I see him get to the top of the route, it’s either he’s going to turn around for the ball or keep going, so I trust my speed if he keeps going that I’ll run with him and I trust the D-line that they’ll get there in time that they’re not going to get the deep balls. So, as soon as I saw him start to break down a little bit, I had to get in there and jump it.”