Saskatchewan Roughriders kick off 1st day of training camp

There was a markedly different feeling to the first day of training camp for the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon.

New system. New staff. And lots of new faces.

Quarterback Darian Durant said he's still building chemistry with his new receivers, trying to learn their body language and how they get "in and out of their breaks."

"I like where we are, especially for day one, and we just have to keep building on that," he said.

Head coach Chris Jones echoed Durant's thoughts about how the team executed its plays in front of the crowd assembled at the University of Saskatchewan.

"It wasn't the prettiest thing in the world," Jones said. "We started off a little slow I felt like, and we had to put a little starter fluid in the carburetor, but once we got that done, we were off and running."

Onlookers used words like freneticand frenzied to describe the pace of the new-look squad's first practice.

"If they decide that they don't want to do this type of pace, then they're probably looking to go somewhere else," Jones said.

Durant was, by all accounts, showing flashes of his old self at training camp. The 11-year veteran of the Canadian Football League has seen limited playing time over the past couple of seasons due to injuries. Durant said he's been working hard at returning to the game of football stronger overall.

I'm looking at it as a comeback season, and I'm looking forward to it.- Darian Durant

"As you sit back and as time passes, you realize that you have to attack the road ahead of you," he said. "That was my motivation, just knowing that I was given another opportunity, so I needed to take it upon myself to try and put myself in the best position possible."

Durant said that football is a game of reaction, and right now, he's just reacting to what's happening on the field, and not the achilles injury that caused him to miss all but one game of the entire 2015 season.

"I'm looking at it as a comeback season, and I'm looking forward to it," said Durant.

The Roughriders will continue to practice at Saskatoon's Griffiths Stadium throughout the week.