Spokane Shock set aside difficult start to season

The Spokane Shock earlier this week adjusted how they practiced and how they watched video.

It also sounds as if changes are coming to the lineup.

Limited by a 21-player roster on game day, there probably won’t be wholesale changes, but Spokane clearly isn’t standing pat after a 1-4 start. The Shock’s latest loss was perhaps the most painful, falling 66-63 after an errant kickoff set up New Orleans’ field goal on the last play.

“It was a rough couple days,” veteran defensive end James Ruffin said. “We had a group meeting and we decided we were going to put that behind us and move forward. Nothing we can do about it now but just take it to L.A. on Friday.”

The winless Kiss (0-6), who failed to score in the second half of a 49-16 loss at Las Vegas on Monday, have a short week to prepare and an unsettled picture at quarterback. Spokane has its own list of concerns to address.

Head coach Andy Olson wrote a message to the team Monday on the whiteboard: “Every play matters.”

The whole team, instead of breaking into position groups, watched video of the New Orleans game for three hours.

“We’ve never done that before,” Olson said. “It took us forever to get through that meeting, but everyone was in there and everyone saw who was responsible, who was making mistakes. I think it was important for guys to see and be held accountable in front of their teammates.

“It wasn’t exactly the best meeting in the world because there was a lot of criticism, but I think guys have responded to it.”

Along the same lines, the players asked for a change to the practice format and Olson agreed.

“We went full go (Tuesday), full on, tackle, everything,” he said. “They wanted to change the way we did practice. They wanted to compete. They wanted me to tell the entire roster that every spot is up for grabs. It’s like day one of (training) camp.”

Ruffin said the team needs to be more consistent.

“Guys need to have more confidence and trust in each other,” Ruffin said. “I’m guilty of that and not trusting players. It’s just coming together as a group and playing together.”

Asked to boil it down to one item, receiver Mike Washington said, “Basically, I’d just say play with heart. Anytime you give a team life no matter what record they have, they’re going to have a chance to win the game. We didn’t really start kicking it in until the last five minutes (Saturday). You have to have that fire all four quarters.”

Olson said quarterback and defensive secondary are getting most of his attention.

“That’s really the most inconsistency we’ve had, obviously because of injuries first of all and Carson (Coffman) just wasn’t great (against New Orleans),” Olson said. “For some reason his footwork was off that game and he wasn’t seeing the field clearly. He had a very good pre-snap read but had no post-snap read.”

Truesdell catches on

Nick Truesdell had his best game of the young season against New Orleans with six receptions for 75 yards and one touchdown. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound receiver joined the Shock midseason in 2014 and showed potential with 28 catches for 294 yards and five TDs.

He’s been slowed by hamstring and ankle injuries and was inactive for two games.

“He’s healthy now,” Olson said. “He stayed here in the offseason and was in fantastic shape, but he got hurt a week before training camp. Mentally, it took him a while to come around and he’s definitely starting to play better. He still has a long way to go. I believe Nick could be the best receiver that Spokane has ever seen.”