Roughriders receiver Chris Getzlaf is having a bounce-back year.
It was an up and down year for Getzlaf in 2012. At the end of the day he was still one of the top receivers in the west division in terms of yards with nearly 900 on the season but he often had Mosaic Stadium groaning with some of the drops he had.
So far 2013 has been a much better year for Getzlaf. While he's had a couple of drops so far, overall he appears to be much more mentally tough in the game and is making some rather difficult catches.
"Try to look every single ball in," said Getzlaf. "Make sure I'm concentrating on that first and the rest will take care of itself."
It's something his coach, Jason Tucker, has been glad to see Getzlaf working on.
"Tracking the ball, keeping his head up, and always knowing where the ball is," he said.
It's paying off, as he has 265 yards on the season already. But the more impressive stat is that he leads the league in touchdown catches with five.
As expected, Getzlaf was quick to give his teammates credit for his success.
"When you're getting down into scoring range that often, you're going to get scoring opportunities," he said.
It may appear on the surface that Darian Durant sees Getzlaf as his favourite target when it comes to scoring majors but Getzlaf definitely doesn't see it that way, saying there's a few guys with multiple touchdowns. Both Durant and Tucker credit Getzlaf's ability to get open for his success.
"He can get open on pretty much any route," said Durant. "If I have an opportunity to hit him, I try to take advantage of that."
"He's been doing that his whole career," said Tucker. "He finds a way to get open."
One of the biggest reasons why Getzlaf's career has turned around is the fact that he's so hard on himself. More often than not, no one is harder on Getzlaf than Getzlaf, even his coaches.
"You want a guy that's going to be tough on himself," said Tucker. "Means he's always going to be hungry."
For his part, Durant gives Getzlaf some pointers when he sees them to help improve his craft.
Getzlaf feels he can't really help it, it's how he's wired. He wants to win every single play and if he doesn't he's not going to be happy about it.
"I like to watch tape, correct some of the things I'm doing wrong," said Getzlaf. "Some of my tendencies I do on certain routes, I try to switch that up to make it more difficult for defenders."
While Getzlaf is very hard on himself he adds that he's also very quick to forget and move on from that anger.
Meanwhile, he feels his brother Ryan is the complete opposite.
"Ryan's pretty easy-going," said Getzlaf. "He doesn't make a pile of mistakes but when he does he's going to let it go right away."
News and Notes
- Weston Dressler and Jock Sanders both returned to practice on Wednesday after missing practice on Tuesday.
- Diamond Ferri had some choice words about the Montreal Alouettes on Wednesday. John Chick also shared his thoughts on Jon Cornish and the Stamps, hear those on the Green Zone.
- A few Paul McCartney references were made at practice, specifically by offensive line coach Doug Malone who was naming songs during stretch.
- Receiver Taj Smith was down for a bit on Wednesday. At first it appeared he may have come up lame, perhaps due to a hamstring, but it became evident that he took a shot below the belt.
