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Antoine Brooks Jr. is using every opportunity to his advantage at Saskatchewan Roughriders training camp.
The 26-year-old defensive back is a former Pittsburgh Steelers draft pick and won a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021 as a member of the practice squad.
After the Super Bowl victory, he spent two seasons in the XFL/UFL before being released and signing with the Riders in 2024.
So far at training camp, Brooks Jr. has been one of the biggest stories for the Green and White.
Whenever there is a defensive play to be made, Brooks Jr. has been in the right position to bat the ball down or make an interception. His strong play has seen him get first-team reps with the Riders defence at camp this year.
So what’s clicked for Brooks Jr.?
“Honestly, last year I did a lot of practice squad and I was actually just enjoying and trying to learn to playbook and make sure that I am ready for this year,” Brooks Jr. said.
“This year, I’m way more ready than I was last year. That’s because I understand the game. I know the 12-man game,” he explained. “Now the defence is actually going by slow to me. Once everything slows down, you start having fun and everything’s going to the highest plan.”
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Brooks Jr. said the biggest thing that’s helped him understand the Canadian game is by drawing plays out on the chalkboard and also walking the routes on the field to help get a more visual view.
At training camp this year, Brooks Jr. said the biggest thing for him has been showing the coaches just how hard he can work.
“I give them my all out here and try to get them to trust me. I’m talking to them, letting them know that I should do this better – just communicate with my coach,” Brooks Jr. said.
“I think that’s probably the biggest thing in like this game, just communicating with the coach and making sure I understand what I’m doing and how I’m doing it and why I’m doing it – that’s really the process of us in Saskatchewan for real.”
On the football field, Brooks Jr. is ready to fight for a job and thinks he can do so while being a versatile player.
“I love being physical in the paint. I’m a violent guy when I play football. The mental part is honestly just doing the extra step to try to make sure that I know what I’m doing,” Brooks Jr. added.
“I know what coverage I got and I know when I’m blitzing, so that’s all I’ve been keying on. I’ve been watching my film, watching the older guys and making sure that I can play everywhere on the field.”
News and notes from Day 10 of Riders training camp
Day 10 of Riders training camp was by far the most intense as the pads were strapped on yet again at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon.
From the first play of the skelly drill, things were intense, especially on the offensive and defensive lines.
Throughout the morning, players on the line were finishing their tackles, some even taking others to the ground. Other players were jawing at each other and it led to three warnings coming from head coach Corey Mace.
For the most part, the players were able to separate themselves and move on, but nearly two hours into practice, when the team was on the second skelly drill, two linemen again got tangled and one got taken to the ground.
That play led to Mace blowing his whistle and telling all of the players on the sidelines to run sprints on the lines and hash marks for nearly five minutes.
“We aren’t going to win football games being stupid,” Mace yelled at the team as they ran.
The team continued to run the skelly drill after that and things continued to stay intense. Eventually, just after 10:15 a.m., Mace called practice and told his team to cool off.
“I don’t mind the physicality. I don’t mind to compete, we encourage that kind of stuff – but anything after the whistle, there’s zero tolerance for that,” Mace stated. “We got to figure that out. Today, just wasn’t a good day and it had to be addressed.”
Mace admits we’re at the point of camp now where football players just want to hit someone, but he added there’s still no excuse for the extracurricular stuff at camp.
“I’m not ignorant to that fact, but it doesn’t change the standard or how we want to be in practice and also in game too,” Mace said. “The point of us being out here is spending time to find ways to get better.”
The Riders will get the opportunity to hit someone different on Saturday when they head to Winnipeg for the first preseason game.
Mace said he’ll be looking at competition in a lot of different areas.
“There’s going to be some tough battles and I think these preseason games is going to be an opportunity for guys to separate themselves – looking forward to seeing how those guys show,” Mace said. “There’s a lot of competition out there and a lot of spots. We’re eyes everywhere.”
The Riders will hold a walkthrough tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. at Griffiths Stadium before flying to Winnipeg.
