3) CB shakes off missed INT chance. Through two days of practice, one of the more consistent defensive backs has been Louisville’s Quincy Riley. The 5-10 3/8, 193-pound outside corner closed out Tuesday’s practice with a pretty pass breakup on a back-shoulder throw, and he had another strong day on Wednesday.

Riley, who had 15 interceptions and 40 PBUs in five years at Middle Tennessee State and Louisville, is one of the best ballhawks in Mobile this week. But he also let an interception slip through his fingers on Wednesday.

Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel threw behind Illinois WR Pat Bryant on a dig route, and Riley was in Bryant’s hip pocket. The ball hit Riley in the hands — in stride — and he just dropped it.

“I’m not known to drop too many balls,” Riley said. “When I dropped that one, I said, ‘that ain’t me,’ and got a little down for a second.”

Riley also went down to the ground for a self-imposed punishment: 10 pushups.

But he rallied to finish off the day strong.

Riley had some excellent battles with Iowa State WR Jaylin Noel and showed nice recovery speed to break up a pass to Virginia Tech’s Da’Quan Felton, who initially beat Riley at the stem of his route.

Through two days, Riley said he’s done what he came here to do: prove he’s the best at what he does.

“I feel like I’ve performed well,” he said. “Came here to do one thing, that’s to show I am the best, the best DB here and in the country.

“… I wasn’t gonna let that one drop slow me down.”

4) Canadian QB learning on the fly. When you consider what challenges Laurier QB Taylor Elgersma is facing in his quest to crack the NFL, start with this: Elgersma has been playing American football — 11 on 11 — for about three weeks now.

The 6-4, 216-pound prospect is a unicorn in that Canadian college quarterbacks simply don’t receive invitations to the Senior Bowl historically. For one reason, they have experience against a significantly lower level of competition than what the Senior Bowl provides. On top of that, the game is played a bit differently in Canada, with 12 players on the field for each team, three downs instead of four and a 110-yard field, just to name a few of the distinctions.

Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy said Ben Neill at QB Country in Birmingham, Alabama, where Elgersma has been training, had been in Nagy’s ear about the Canadian QB. After Elgersma showed out earlier this month at the Tropical Bowl, he was a natural fill-in for Ohio State QB Will Howard, who dropped out after leading the Buckeyes to the national title.

Elgersma, who won the Hec Crighton Award (essentially Canada’s Heisman Trophy Award) got off to a bumpy start on Tuesday, as did several other Senior Bowl quarterbacks. But on Wednesday, he started to settle in and look the part more.

“Obviously, coming down here to 11-man football, it’s a little bit different,” Elgersma said. “And so it’s gonna take some reps to completely get back to that spot where I was in Canada. But that’s a challenge that I’m embracing. I’m just trying to get a little bit better day by day. I think today (Wednesday) was a little bit better than yesterday, and so hopefully tomorrow is better than today.”

Elgersma navigated pressure well to execute a nice throwback pass to Syracuse RB LeQuint Allen. Later, Elgersma hit Oregon WR Tez Johnson down the seam on a nice ball.

“I just think my foot speed was better today,” he said. “Yesterday, I think I was a little bit long in my drops and wide in my base. Today I was focusing on getting the ball out and timing, speeding up my feet.
“I think that translated to a couple reps. The whole operation felt smoother today.”

Elgersma is unlike any prospect in Mobile. He played hockey most of his life and only started playing football in the 10th grade. When he’s not going to school at Laurier or practicing with the football team, he’s working his side gig. The job description? “Overnight snow removal,” he said.

He’s since quit that job and turned his attention to the NFL.

“I’m just trying to put everything into this and give it the best shot I can,” he said. “I know I can play ball, and I am trying to get up to speed as quickly as I can.”