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<\/p>\nFollowing the departure of A.J. Allen and C.J. Reavis in the off-season, the Grey Cup-winning Roughriders looked to plug holes in the linebacker position in the off-season, and targeted Woods in free agency.<\/p>\n
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Woods started 10 games at weak-side linebacker last year for the Lions, reaching a new career high with 65 tackles including a sack, a pass knockdown and a forced fumble.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old Woods also stood across from the Roughriders in last year\u2019s Western Final, which saw Saskatchewan advance to the Grey Cup with a 24-21 victory.<\/p>\n
Roughriders head coach Corey Mace said the addition of Woods to the linebacker group has provided a sense of veteran leadership and guidance to others at camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust calmness and patience,\u201d Mace said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not anything that he\u2019s going to be seeing that he hasn\u2019t really seen before. It\u2019s just maybe from different angles, different eyes and responsibility within the playbook.\u201d<\/p>\n
Woods is used to looking at different angles and perspectives, not only on the football field.<\/p>\n
A graduate of the UCLA Bruins program in college, Woods earned a degree in sociology, but also developed his passion for film, television and media studies, which he minored in.<\/p>\n
Guided by mentor Neal Moritz, who produced everything from the Fast & Furious franchise to Prison Break and The Boys, Woods said he developed a passion for the way shows and movies are made.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of different when I watch TV and film, because I see it with a different lens,\u201d Woods said. \u201cI really enjoy it, and anything Spike Lee, I\u2019m there.\u201d<\/p>\n
That path away from the football field led Woods to the set of the long-running CBS television show S.W.A.T. as an intern.<\/p>\n
From sitting in pitch meetings to being introduced to the show\u2019s lead star, Shemar Moore, Woods said it was a peek behind the curtain into how a writers\u2019 room operates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re showing up in jeans, sweats, Jordans, like pretty lax,\u201d Woods said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting in the writers\u2019 room, just how they brainstorm and feed off each other. The team chemistry part of it was really dope to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he now looks at media like television or movies a little differently, Woods said he still has strong views about what makes a good plot line or character arc.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe chemistry between the writers\u2019 room and the actors, building the small stories, getting people to really get into the characters and watch the development, stuff like that makes shows good,\u201d Woods said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m rocking with this character. I want to see how far he makes it or what happens in his life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Woods is one character the Roughriders are eager to see on the field in 2026, especially with a pair of CFL veterans in Jameer Thurman and Antoine Brooks Jr. running beside him in practice.<\/p>\n
Mace said he believes Woods can be a big part of the picture this summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s handled it very well,\u201d Mace said. \u201cHe obviously was a productive player in his previous spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
One familiar face Woods will be leaning on this season is Roughriders linebackers coach Travis Brown, who served in the same role for the Lions between 2019 and 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe cross-trained me over there to play multiple positions,\u201d Woods said.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing here and only having to really focus on (linebacker) right now, one spot hasn\u2019t been too bad. I think I\u2019m getting better every day, and I think everybody around me is making it easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Woods said he\u2019s focused on establishing his game on the gridiron this summer, but there\u2019s another type of football which he\u2019ll be keeping a close eye on when the new season drops in August.<\/p>\n
\u201cTed Lasso is one of the best shows of all time,\u201d Woods said. \u201cI can\u2019t wait for the new season. I think they\u2019re going to venture to the women\u2019s side of football over there. I think that\u2019s going to be awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rider training camp notes<\/p>\n
The Roughriders had arguably their most uptempo and focused practice of training camp on Thursday, with the session lasting just over two hours.<\/p>\n
Mace said with just five days between Monday\u2019s pre-season loss to the Calgary Stampeders and the team\u2019s next exhibition game in Saskatoon on Saturday, there was a push for their last full practice of the week to be crisp.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to get two good days of practice,\u201d Mace said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some things we identified in yesterday\u2019s practice we wanted to get better at today, and we did. Still obviously room for improvement, but the compete periods, everything, it was exactly what we wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s practice included a showcase drill for linemen, as well as receivers and defensive backs matching up one-on-one in front of the entire team.<\/p>\n
Mace called out the \u201cmain event\u201d between veteran wide receiver KeeSean Johnson and first-round draft pick Malcolm Bell at defensive back, with Johnson getting the upper hand with a stutter-step at the line of scrimmage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe use that breakup in practice to put the spotlight on some guys and settle some scores,\u201d Mace said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s training camp. There\u2019s a couple of guys who go back and forth. Let\u2019s put the spotlight on them, see how they can do it and handle themselves as pros.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zack Fry missed a second straight day at left guard, though Mace said on Wednesday he\u2019s not concerned and expects his starting offensive lineman to be available soon.<\/p>\n
The Roughriders will cap off their shortened week of practice with a team walkthrough on Friday morning before Saturday\u2019s pre-season game at Griffiths Stadium against Winnipeg, with the kickoff set for 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
by Scott Roblin – CKOM News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following the departure of A.J. Allen and C.J. Reavis in the off-season, the Grey Cup-winning Roughriders looked to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-689812","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\/689812","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=689812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=689812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=689812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=689812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}