ROUGHRIDERS-STAMPEDERS PREGAME NOTES
The Roughriders returned from Training Camp in Saskatoon on Wednesday evening and held a pregame walk-through Thursday morning at Mosaic Stadium. They will host the Calgary Stampeders in preseason play Friday at 7:30 pm (620 CKRM Network, No TV).
Here are some notes from the pregame news conferences:
QB ZACH COLLAROS
– Antsy, excited, anxious. All those things. Moreso excited from being in camp the last 18, 19 days. Just to go out there and face another opponent, I think we’re all excited about it.
– Very excited (to be a Roughrider). Walking down the tunnel today with some of the guys, I felt how electric of a feeling that is. I’m excited to run out of the tunnel in front of our fans.
– For me personally, I just need to go through the progressions and do my job the way the coaches have asked me to. Essentially control what I can control and if we all do that, I think we’ll be happy with the results.
– I’ve got a good feel (for the playbook). When coach MacAdoo calls a play, what he’s asking the QB to do and see, I think there’s a good starting point. The more and more we’re in this, the better I’ll be at it. I’m excited to get some game reps and build off that.
– I need to prove to my coaches and teammates that I can do what they ask me to do, and do it well.
HEAD COACH & GM CHRIS JONES
– It was a little buzz around practice today. It’s always loud on Day 4 and guys are excited to play. They know there’s a big percentage of the guys that will make our team, and they’re ready to play. They’ll go out to play good football.
– (In camp) you find out who can consistently do the things. You give them little tests like who can go to breakfast at the right time, do the right things over and over. But you have to perform when you get to the game.
– Zach Collaros will play the 1st and 3rd quarters and Brandon Bridge will play the 2nd and 4th. David Watford and B.J. Daniels won’t play.
– The QBs have to get in and out of the huddle, move the football team, and score touchdowns. That’s what we get paid to do.
– Collaros and Bridge have both took turns playing good football. They’ve been the most consistent, but it’s not that the others played poorly. That’s just what we graded. They’ve both been consistent and bring different qualities to our football team.
RP
@rodpedersen