RIDERS PREP FOR PRESEASON OPENER

Duron Carter expects to see game action on Saturday

The Roughriders scaled Thursday’s Day 12 of Training Camp down to one padded session at Griffiths Stadium. The club is making final preparations for Saturday’s home preseason game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (7:00 pm, 620 CKRM).

It was sunny and 26 degrees for the workout with a 16 km/h breeze.

Bryan Bennett, Brandon Bridge and Marquise Williams took the bulk of the reps at quarterback. Vince Young was absent again, while Kevin Glenn watched for the team periods. The team still hasn’t set its QB rotation for Saturday.

“Not yet,” offered Riders Head Coach Chris Jones. “I’m gonna talk to them today and tomorrow after the walk-through. It’s not like we’re trying to hide anything. We just have to decide exactly how we’re going to utilize the guys. There’s really only three options for us now so it’s between those three to go out and play and move the football for us.”

Having said that, #1 pivot Kevin Glenn isn’t going to get the night off.

“He’s going to dress,” Jones continued. “Everybody’s going to dress. We don’t do that stuff where we sit a guy out and he sits over there in a ball cap and he talks to the fans. We don’t do that type thing. He’s going to dress, help coach those young kids, and be eyes for them.”

It’s my guess that Bryan Bennett will start, although they might want to give Kevin Glenn at least one series to get accustomed to the noise. However whenever Bennett gets into the game, he’ll have the added bonus of having spent last year on the Blue Bombers’ practice roster, going against Richie Hall’s defense in practice.

“Richie’s a coach who’s been in this league a long time,” Bennett said Thursday. “He has his base. It’s the preseason and you want to evaluate guys so you might see a little more man coverage. That’s just something where you gotta get up there, get your pre-snap read and execute based on what they give you.

“They’re not going to bring too much. In the redzone they might zero you or bring some six-man pressure but not a ton. I’d like to think that I’ve probably seen everything that they’ll do.”

Kickers Tyler Crapigna and Quinn Van Gylswyk got the day off, opening the door for Regina Thunder kicker Kris Calcutt to work with the big club on Thursday. Chris Jones said Calcutt “did a real nice job”, and perfectly executed an onside kick. Bryan Bennett even tried his hand at punting.
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Former Tusculum linebacker Brandyn Bartlett has been selected by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League supplemental draft on Thursday.

Bartlett, a 6-1, 230-pound product of Dacula, Georgia, recorded 229 tackles in his three seasons with the Pioneers which are 13th-most in program history.  During his 31-game career, he accounted for nine tackles for loss with four sacks.  His six career fumbles forced are tied for fifth in the Tusculum record book, while also posting two fumble recoveries and an interception.

In 2016, he finished fourth on the team with his 55 total tackles, including three sacks in his nine outings.  He led the Pioneers with his 94 tackles in 2015 as his 8.5 stops per game average was second in the South Atlantic Conference.  He earned All-Region and All-Conference first team honors and forced a team-high three fumbles, which were second in the league and 36th in the country.  During that 2015 campaign, he tallied double-digit tackles on five occasions.

Bartlett graduated from Tusculum this past December and was a member of the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll while majoring in sport management.  He becomes the 28th Pioneer during the NCAA Division II era (1998-present) to ink a professional football contract.

The Roughriders will open their 2017 season this Saturday night when they host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

RP
@rodpedersen