Takahashi adds depth at receiver

Shortly into his first practice with the Spokane Shock, wide receiver Mutsumi Takahashi lines up against a starting defensive back in 1-on-1 drills. He dashes down the middle of the field, fakes right, fakes again, then cuts sharply to his left.

He’s wide open, but the throw isn’t anywhere close. Still, the move draws a few “oohs and ahhs” from teammates and spectators. The defensive back offers a handshake and a smiling Takahashi jogs back to the huddle.

“With his size (listed at 5-foot-7), it makes people believe he can’t cover ground quickly, but he gets to what we call the cushion, the DB’s toes, quickly,” Shock head coach Adam Shackleford said. “He’s quick enough to give a move one way and go the other and he gets out of his breaks quickly.”

How quickly Takahashi sees game action will be determined during practice this week. He arrived from Japan last Friday, watched Spokane’s 62-42 win over Boise on Saturday and reviewed the playbook with Shackleford on Monday. He played for Shackleford with arenafootball2 Cincinnati in 2003.

“It’s so different right now. The system is in my mind,” Takahashi said. “I just want to play football.”

Football isn’t nearly as popular as baseball or soccer in Japan. Takahashi played on an outdoors team in Japan and also coached a college-level team. His introduction to the sport came through a teacher.

“When I got to school my teacher said, ‘You are on football team,’ and that’s it,” Takahashi said. “I didn’t say no.”

Takahashi, 31, spent three years with the AFL New York Dragons, mostly on the practice squad, before returning to Osaka in 2007. He’s in Spokane because he missed the competition level of American football.

“Japan has football but not professional. It’s amateur. I just want to play at a more high level,” said Takahashi, who has a wife and 4-year-old son in Japan. “They understood why I came here to play. She followed me in the U.S. (before) for a couple years and my son was born in the U.S.”

Takahashi, who has also returned kicks, joins a deep receiving unit. Raul Vijil, Andy Olson and Kelvin Dickens are the starters. Patrick Bugg, who was in Tallahassee, Fla., for the birth of his daughter and missed the Boise game, is in the mix. Olson was at a Seattle Seahawks minicamp Monday and he might get an invite to training camp this summer.

“Our goal is to move these guys up and that’s why keeping guys like Bugg and Mutsumi is important,” Shackleford said. “All of our receivers are good enough to play in the AFL.”

Takahashi, who is sharing an apartment with defensive end Devon Parks, said he’s been treated “with kindness” by teammates and fans. He cautions that his English “is not good enough,” but he has no problems communicating with visitors.

“I’ve told everybody I just want to talk on the field,” he said.

There and back

Saturday’s game against Tri-Cities will be played at 4 p.m. at the Arena, in part to accommodate the Lilac Festival Armed Forces Torchlight Parade, which begins at 7:45. Most streets will be open until 4:30. Fans will have access to Arena parking lots, but parking on the street will be prohibited on Dean Street and Cataldo and Mallon avenues.

After the game, numerous streets south of Boone Ave. will remain closed. Fans who have parked in Arena parking lots will be allowed to exit and head west on Boone to Monroe and travel north or south. Fans will also be able to exit on Howard and travel east or west on Maxwell Ave.

Notes

Former Eastern Washington Eagle Brian Jarrett, a second-team All-Big Sky Conference safety in 2007, worked out with the Shock on Tuesday but was pursuing a CFL opportunity Wednesday. … Af2 rules allow teams to suit up 20 (it’s usually 19) on game day if one of the players is a foreign citizen. Linebacker Lee Foliaki has been Spokane’s international player the first six games. If Takahashi and Foliaki both play, one would receive the international exemption and the other would be on the regular roster. “The reality of it is to add (Takahashi) we have to subtract somebody,” Shackleford said. … About 300 tickets remain for Saturday’s game. … The Shock are ranked No. 2 in the af2 coaches’ poll for the seventh consecutive week. Spokane received four first-place votes and 407 points. Tulsa (7-0) continues to top the poll.