TUESDAY WITH THE RIDERS
Practice Notes:
– Tuesday’s Rider practice was a cold, rainy one at Mosaic Stadium. With a northwest wind gusting to 42 km/h, it felt like minus-5 degrees Celsius.
– Head coach Bob Dyce said the conditions didn’t deter the workout, in fact they likely led to the players being more focused and engaged.
– The Riders will likely debut a new running back in Saturday’s game at Calgary. LaVance Taylor wore #10 and saw some work on Tuesday. He was officially added to the practice roster on Tuesday. The Central Missouri product has spent time in the pro’s with Ottawa, BC and the Kansas City Chiefs.
– Dyce confirmed that rookie Brett Smith will start at QB against the Stampeders but like last week, declined to say when and how back-up Keith Price will be used.
– Dyce also suggested rookie DB Junior Mertile won’t likely be activated against Calgary. He said it’s a consequence for his gaffe against Edmonton which led to a 50-yard Adarius Bowman touchdown.
– Bob was asked if the error was a reflection on the Rider coaching staff. Here is his response: “(Lonnng pause) … Junior made a mistake. I read the paper and you guys got editors. Sometimes I still see a mistake in the paper. People make mistakes and things happen.”
– Mertile faced the media and said the brain camp was all on him. He said he had to explain to his coaches what he was thinking on the play but they told him to hold his head up and just play better. He said he thought teammate Tyree Hollins was going to make the tackle on Bowman.
– The forecast for McMahon Stadium on Saturday calls for a mix of sun and cloud and a high of 13 degrees. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 pm.
RP
Had enough of Brett Smith, know what he does. More Keith Price with some Blake Sims, Roughriders quarterbacks of the immediate future.
Sadly, he will forever be remembered on coffee row as Junior Turnstile …
I know MAM is as stupid in person as he is on the air because I've seen it, but are you as arrogant outside the studio as you are inside it?
Ya.
6:18 pm.
Shush! Ms. Tifanny Lizee on.
PS, rumour has it Saskatchewan Roughriders will be masqerading as football players this Halloween week-end in Calgary. Scary stuff.
I don't forsee the skrrs keeping their financial commitment to the 30+ year bargain on the new stadium. That's ok, I'll be dead by then.
Brad Waii
I'm looking forward to seeing some more new guys play on SAturday. Brett Smith still has to play the majority of the game until Price and Sims are ready to play more.
Why would we pick up a RB that Ottawa and BC released?
Note to the new GM; Please find some DBs that enjoy hitting people. Just the reverse of Junior Mertile.
Most interesting of all is…the Riders do not appear to have any DB's on their practice roster. WHAT??? It is true.
But they do have a RB that was cut from the Chiefs after 3 days, Ottawa and BC. Must have read his tweet I guess. What next? Signing a dead player?
Am I missing something here???
You're one classy guy Pedersen!
He said he had to explain to his coaches what he was thinking on the play.
So, what was he thinking?
Here's exactly what he was thinking. "I'm going to be a referee in this league someday soon. I'll audition for the job now while everyone is watching". "Where's my flag"?
I've watched the video of Junior Mertile over and over and although Tyree Hollins looks pretty stupid if Mertile hits Adarious Bowman when he should have, then Hollins 'strip the ball' tactics may have worked.
Am I missing something here???
Yeah you are missing the obvious. Neither Allen or Spann practiced. Now i am no genius but if i see that two running backs miss practice after one was clearly injured in the game and the team airlifts one in ….
Rider Nation keeps getting dumber each week. Who do you think they would add with two weeks left on a basement dwelling team? The kid has spent time in the CFL so if they need him he actually knows the rules.
PS – did any media think to ask where Allen and Spann were?
The fans wanted to see rookies for the rest of the year and that's what you're getting. You now need to put up with all the rookie mistakes and quit the endless whining about it. You got what you asked for. Have fun. How else is Mertile supposed to get ready for next year.
Nobody is being added to get a look for next season. These are all additions to simply get through the season with enough warm bodies. You are all naive enough to think players are signing here with two weeks with real hopes of being the first step in a rebuild.
Reality check.
So Mertile makes a mistake and he's going to be benched. Isn't that what Chamblin did with the RB's? One fumble and they were benched?
You think that was Mertile's first mistake of the season? Have you actually watched any games?
Mertile makes a mistake? You obviously haven't been watching the previous weeks if you think this is solely the result of a single mistake.
Bye!
So many problems of every kind have hindered this team all year and it's hard to pinpoint the biggest one but I would have to say after all this time losing Darian was the biggest and the beginning of the end for our season. His injury and so many others changed the game plan for the season in a hurry and nothing worked. Corey Chamblin getting fired was supposed to be the start of rebuild but with or without him the season would have ended the same. The great team we had for a few years has slowly crumbled away… Read more »