CHRIS JONES NEWS CONFERENCE NOTES
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| Jones on Monday morning |
REGINA — Saskatchewan Roughriders Head Coach & GM Chris Jones held his year-end news conference Monday morning at Mosaic Stadium. The session lasted over 20 minutes.
Here are some notes:
– Roughly half of the news conference was dedicated to the ongoing contract talks with pending free agent quarterback Darian Durant. Jones said he hopes and expects to re-sign the 34-year old quarterback.
– Jones declined to get into the salary numbers being tossed back and forth between the club and Durant’s agent Dan Vertlieb but was clear to point out, “This is not me versus Darian.”
– Asked if the “Next Darian Durant” is currently in the CFL but playing for another team, Jones said that’s a possibility but declined to name names for fear of being fined.
– Regarding a grade for his football club in the first year of this regime, Jones gave them an emphatic “F”. “Any time you only win five games, that’s not very good,” Jones remarked.
– He stated that the entire coaching staff is expected to return, and that a lot of their struggles were injury related which can’t be pinned on his assistants. He said they’ve won too much in the past and therefore he still has a strong belief in their abilities.
– Regarding all the injuries, Jones said they’ll investigate into why the number was so high this year. He said the bulk of the injuries occurred during games rather than in practice, which was interesting.
– He said their spring minicamp will be much more physical than last year’s in Vero Beach, FL.
– He said the team will hold several more free agent tryouts camps this off-season including seven between now and Christmas. He feels this was a valuable resource as last year’s camps turned up players such as receiver Ricky Collins and linebacker Sam Eguavoen.
– Jones doesn’t expect the team to be as active in free agency as they were last year.
– He said he’d like to re-sign linebacker Jeff Knox Jr. but the player would also like to explore NFL opportunities. Jones revealed Knox played injured for the entire season, and played every play on defense in B.C. on Saturday night.
– Jones said he did learn some things in his first year as a General Manager. With the sudden retirements of players such as Maurice Price and Bruce Campbell, they will restructure the wording of their contracts.
– Regarding all of his roles as V.P. of Football, Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator and if they were too much for one person to handle, the said it wasn’t a lot different than what he was doing with the Edmonton Eskimos.
– Jones concluded the session by remarking that New Mosaic Stadium will likely be a drawing card for potential free agent signings and referred to their football facilities as “immaculate”.
– We’ll air the news conference on the SportsCage today at 4:00 pm on 620 CKRM.
RP
@rodpedersen
Jones was helped by experienced assistant GM's O'Day and Murphy and other support staff so I can't understand why some reporter keeps asking him if he has too many roles to handle, expecting him to say yes.
My very first impression of Chris Jones was not a good one. It was before he came to Saskatchewan and I remember being thankful he was not on our coaching staff. Didn't like the man. Now, at the end of a very trying season he stands up to all the questions being fired at him and I find myself liking him more and more. To have the guts to take on the job of cutting our most popular players, bring in player after player, changing things game in and game out because of injury, knowing full well we were not… Read more »
Jones is so Full of BULL S### that he could fill the new stadium with it. He is holding back on Durants future until he gets his new QB out of Edmonton likely.
Wow another blogger who knows so much about the Riders management team and their dealings. Let's see what happens and who cares if he pulls another quarterback into the mix. Why wouldn't you with Darians health problems. If they brought in franklin it could only better the talent on the team. I think I am more concerned with out mediocre o line. In Jones We Trust!!
Shut up. Just shut the hell up. Can't believe one team can have so many stupid followers.
The only way Sask gets Franklin from Edmonton is if Hervey trades him and I bet Sask would have to give an overpayment for a deal to be made but I still am unsure if Edmonton throws him your way anyways…more chance a team like Montreal or Toronto could end up with him just due to them being in the east conference. I will make this clear so all you rider fans know this…FRANKLIN IS UNDER CONTRACT UNTIL THE 2018 FREE AGENCY!!! If you don't re-sign Durant then your pretty much screwed and really makes no sense not to sign… Read more »
Very good post from an EE fan. Even he sees how crappy Jones is beingvwith Darians contract. If Jones doesn't sign Darian than I believe there will be an up roar like never before in Riderville. That new Stadium is not going to hold this fan base together if Jones goes into 2017 without a proven starting CFL QB. The only one available is the one that leads and bleeds for the Green and White. If I didn't know better I would have thought Darian was SK born. His passion is the same as anyone who ever grew up a… Read more »
I finally agree with something that Jones said and that is that the team and their coaches deserved a big "F" on this season. We may have a few players who can play but we are a very long way from being a contender. Very disappointed they are not making some coaching changes. There are too many coaches and assistant coaches and they clearly aren't doing their jobs. There is a lot of work to do in the off-season and it begins with getting our QB signed to a contract. Without Darian, we will be in ANOTHER rebuilding year. We… Read more »
A week ago Jones indicated he'd be evaluating both players and coaches in the final game out in B.C.
Obviously he didn't or the OC would be gone.
Our rebuild isn't going to work with the current staff intact.
If you guys don't resign DD, I hope you will give Armanti Edwards a look at QB. He's an accurate passer and makes good decisions. He threw for over 10,000 yrds and rushed for over 4,000 in college. He was a human highlight reel every game, so much fun to watch. He has a huge heart and I know he would relish the challenge!
" In Jones We Trust "
Professional sports is a business, it has no place for sentimental value. Darian's Roughrider time has come and gone. Goodbye! Cherio toodle oo.
Remember folks, this is the same Chris Jones that had to pay three fines before he figured out that his Eskimos had to be on the field for the National Anthem.
In Jones we trust – playoffs or bust in 2017 and I have faith they will make it happen.
Why does cfl not show up on sites lite sportrac where fans could find out what salaries are paid to players and how long they are signed for. The major sports have this info for fans and then people will know who is signed, length of contract and team totals. Is the cfl that minor league
I'd take ole Burris aneedae over ole Durant.
Forrest Gump
Riderville! You see that picture cap above? That's a serious man! He knows what he's doing. Don't be telling him how to run his team. Buy your tickets, shutup and watch as the Roughriders rise to prominence. If you fon't have the patience, cheer for some other team to your delight and pleasure.
Go ahead take Burris, take him with you and close the door behind you. Ottawa has a Solid Oline and a dangerous recieving crew. They also have a great defence. As well as Trevor Harris to make sure when Burris isn't winning than Harris is winning. So the should be at least a 14 win team in 2016…. Right Don't forget how good Ottawa's special teams are as well. A very well rounded team. Except at one position. With everything just said, having 2 starting QB's and Ottawa only wins 3 more games than the Riders did. So ya sure… Read more »
Why don't you Esk fans stay in your own blog and stop trying to tell us what to do and to the autonomous poster, you can take the stupid out of your post and keep it in Edmonton. You just can't stand to see a team have far more followers the your team
Seriously John. What makes you think some of these comments are from Eskimos fans? Or any other team for that matter. Most of these comments are from unhappy Rider fans.We are entitled to be unhappy after this season. I won't even mention the whole #4 thing. Have more kool-aid young man.
Anon posted; "Most of these comments are from unhappy Rider fans."
I feel the same way. I'm tired of posting some stark reality and then having the next five postings call me an Eskimo fan.
Billy
Actually guys take a chill pill. The number 4 Comment is in deed from an EE fan. How do I know this for sure? Simple… I read each and every comment and #4 states he is in fact an Eskimo fan. Plus his comments read as such. A good comment by an EE fan!Ironically he understands the dilemma the Riders are in right now concerning the QB position. How could Jones honestly say that within the stable of current Rider QBs. That there is one of them that could lead this team. Other than 1 game when Gale made his… Read more »
The mouth breathers are out in full force today.