JONES ON CUTTING NEWSOME, STICKING WITH CRAPIGNA

Newsome

Sophomore defensive end Jonathon Newsome wasn’t at practice with the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Tuesday and midway through the workout, the team announced the Ball State product has been released.

“Sometimes in pro football things are viewed differently,” explained Roughriders Head Coach & GM Chris Jones after the workout. “Unfortunately we had a few views that we viewed differently so it was in the best interest of both parties that we part ways.”

Newsome was responsible for the Riders’ lone defensive takeaway in Saturday’s 43-40 loss to Winnipeg, an interception in the first half. Jones declined to go into the specifics of the disagreement with Newsome.

“That’s between me and Jonathon,” Jones offered. “We appreciate his contributions while he was here but we decided to go in a different direction.”

Meanwhile the team looked to be having a field goal competition between kickers Tyler Crapigna and Quinn Van Gylswyk prior to Tuesday’s workout however Jones said that’s nothing new. They held similar auditions last week.

Crapigna has only missed two kicks through the Riders’ first two games but one was for a game-winner in Montreal in Week 1 and the other was in overtime of Week 2 against Winnipeg. Van Gylswyk has been sitting on the Injured List waiting for his opportunity.

“Tyler’s going to be our kicker, unless something happens to him,” Jones explained. “Tyler’s going to be our kicker. He just needs to get back on track. He’s been an 86%-87% kicker during his career so he just has to get back on track.”

NOTES: WR Caleb Holley didn’t practice on Tuesday and Jones said he’s not certain of the severity of his shoulder injury, which was re-injured Saturday night … Middle Linebacker Henoc Muamba was back with the starting defense, just days after being placed on the 6-game Injured List. Muamba said the injury wasn’t as serious as feared … Lineman Jeremy Zver practiced with the team after being signed Tuesday morning. The Regina Rams grad was drafted by BC this spring.

The Riders host Hamilton Saturday at 8:00 pm on 620 CKRM and TSN.


RP
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