RIDERS, JONES READY FOR TICATS

Notes from Saskatchewan Roughriders Head Coach & GM Chris Jones’ day-before news conference at Mosaic Stadium on Friday. The Riders host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Saturday at 8:00 pm on TSN and the 620 CKRM Rider Radio Network.

1 – Everything’s a learning experience. Winning and losing are closely related. Losing a game is usually due to mistakes, not because one team is vastly superior to the other. We just have to coach it better.


2 – Jonathan Newsome isn’t even on our team anymore. We got a football game to play.  (No comment).

3 – There’s no more importance on this game than the last. We just gotta keep on keepin’ on. It’s the next game. 1 of 18.

4 – Anytime you win, it’s better for your psyche.

5 – I’m a competitive guy like anybody else. All the coaches in this league are. I don’t care if it’s pick-up basketball. You don’t play to lose.

6 – We’ve got a young group who’s one of the better ones I’ve ever been character-wise. I’m anxious to see how they rebound.

7 – Week 1 it was penalties and turnovers that cost us and last week it was mental busts and turnovers. We can’t do that again.

8 – Hamilton’s had a week to prepare and has two weeks of film on us. I’m sure they’ll be a challenge.

9 – First of all it’s my spot to say (their jobs are on the line), not John Murphy’s. We don’t threaten out players. It’s not that kind of environment around here. If you don’t play well, yeah, it’s competitive football. It’s not Little League. So if you don’t play well, there’s going to be somebody that’s in your spot. That goes without saying. Everybody in the league’s the same.

10 –  My wife and kids really like visiting here (from Tennessee)! They’re softball players so we’ll play a bit of pitch-and-catch out on the field when y’all are gone. They’ve been pretty much all across Canada before but they really like it here a lot.

11 – It’s been very hot. We’ve talked to the players and our Strength Coach Clinton Spencer has sent them info on what to put in their bodies all week. Hydrating and diet are huge. It’s very important to talk about that. It’s been extremely, extremely hot here this week.

RP
@rodpedersen