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\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0definitely\u00a0a big learning curve, but all the coaches have been great,\u201d Meikle said after the first mini-camp practise of 2026 on Thursday at Hillside Stadium. \u201cIt\u2019s just me as a fullback in rookie camp. It\u2019s been a lot more one-on-one coaching and getting more reps, so it\u2019s been nice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both Bond, formerly of the Okanagan Sun, and Meikle, a receiver for the Kamloops Broncos, are from the Tournament Capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meikle, 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, can feel the clock ticking on his pro football aspirations and remains determined to play in the CFL.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m getting older and I\u2019ve been here for three years now, so just with the progress we\u2019ve been making and building, it\u2019s kind of led to this year,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is something to fall back on (he is eligible to continue his B.C. Football Conference career with the Broncos this season), but there is more pressure in that sense.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There has been growth each year since his first camp experience with the Leos in 2024, when he dressed for a pre-season game, but did not play.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meikle saw his first pre-season action last year, taking the field on more than 10 special teams plays against the Calgary Stampeders in Langford.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lions\u2019 head coach Buck Pierce said he wants to see more growth from Meikle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, just expanding his role a little bit, seeing where he is and how he adapts to that role being a little bit closer to the box,\u201d said Pierce, the second-year Lions\u2019 bench boss. \u201cHe looks great. He\u2019s moving well. You can tell already he\u2019s ahead in the playbook and understanding what we\u2019re trying to do. I\u2019m excited to see how the rest of camp goes for him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meikle knows\u00a0his best shot to squeak onto the roster is likely through exemplary work on special teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust what Jacob Bond did,\u201d Meikle said. \u201cHe cracked the roster by special teams. I talked to him and he loved it. That\u2019s kind of what I\u2019m hoping for.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Added Pierce: \u201cUnderstanding CFL rosters and the importance of special teams\u2026 the majority of our roster is made up of guys who make the team on special teams. It will be important for him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0definitely\u00a0a big learning curve, but all the coaches have been great,\u201d Meikle said after the first mini-camp practise…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-655071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}