BRIDGE TO START AGAINST TICATS
REGINA – After a day off the field following Saturday’s 23-17 home loss to the Montreal Alouettes, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were back on the field Monday with an open practice.
Here are some notes:
– QB Brandon Bridge ran the first team offense and afterwards Head Coach Chris Jones revealed that Bridge will start Thursday’s home game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7:00 pm, TSN, 620 CKRM Radio Network). This regime has consistently shown they don’t give up on people despite a rough outing.
– Bridge told reporters that it stung to get pulled at halftime on Saturday, but respects Jones’ ability to make that decision. He said he received a flood of calls and texts from other CFL quarterbacks after Saturday’s game including Kevin Glenn and Hall of Famer Damon Allen. He vowed to be better in his next start.
– Regarding the drop by tailback Marcus Thigpen on a 50-yard pass on the Riders’ opening offensive play, Bridge said, “I don’t think it rattled me, but it definitely hurt.”
– Chris Jones mixed and matched his DBs on Monday with Crezdon Butler, Ed Gainey, Duron Carter and Christion Jones all seeing time on the corner. The Coach said Christion Jones played CB at Alabama and has “been in big games”. Duron Carter saw action on offense on Monday as well.
– Asked why leading rusher Jerome Messam didn’t see action on offense in Week 3, Jones said he’s preserving the veteran back for the long haul of the season.
– The Riders added former NFL DB Matt Elam (Baltimore) on Monday. The Florida product spent four seasons with the Ravens but has battled some legal issues. Chris Jones said they ran the signing of Elam by CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie, and were given the green light.
– Duron Carter said he’s enjoying the challenge of playing cornerback but admitted he didn’t have as much fun playing on Saturday as he usually does. He said the team needs to get back to its positive, energetic nature, and having fun playing the game.
Regarding the Objectionable Conduct penalty he received in the fourth quarter, Duron took offense to that.
“The ref’s saying I grabbed him and all this stuff. I just want to see it,” Carter huffed. “Everybody’s out there playing hard, talking smack and pushing. Some guys are out there kicking. I just gotta keep playing hard. If that’s how the refs want to keep on playing the game, they should get a flag. I just gotta keep playing hard.”
– The Riders have released QB Jeremy Johnson.
– The Roughriders will have a closed practice on Tuesday for Day 2.
RP
@rodpedersen
