RIDERS READY FOR CALGARY *UPDATE WITH DEPTH CHART*
The Saskatchewan Roughriders held their final practice of the week on Tuesday as they prepare for Thursday’s Week 7 showdown at Calgary (8:00 pm, TSN, 620 CKRM Rider Radio Network). However the club is no closer to naming a starting quarterback against the Stampeders.
“Well, Durant looked good today,” surmised Riders Head Coach & GM Chris Jones after the workout. “We’ll go in, we’ll talk to him, see how he feels and evaluate the film.
“I asked him this morning how he felt and he said he felt really good. He looked like he moved around pretty well in the drills, he threw the ball decent and we threw a lot of stuff at him. We made him hold the ball just so I could see him move around. He looked comfortable, so we’ll see.”
As far as Durant’s teammates are concerned, they feel he’ll be under centre come Thursday night at McMahon Stadium.
“Having Doubles back is obviously good,” reported veteran receiver Rob Bagg. “I say it every time; I think he’s the best quarterback in the league when he’s on the field. Having said that, I thought Mitchell Gale also did a great job for us. He came in and won us a game and he certainly didn’t lose us the second one. Mitchell has a role with us but, to your point, having Doubles back is huge.”
The Stampeders lead the West Division at 3-1-1 while the Riders are in the basement at 1-4 however when these two teams collide in the Foothills, anything can happen. Everyone in Green & White is excited to get to Calgary.
“No doubt about it,” Durant said. “The Calgary game is always special. Special to me. We’ve had some good times over there in that place. I’m just looking forward to getting back out there against the guys I’ve competed with over the years and it’s been two years since I’ve played against those guys so I’m looking forward to it.”
I should mention that Durant made those comments following Monday’s practice and even he didn’t know at that time if he’d get the ball in Week 7.
However Chris Jones said it won’t matter who’s calling signals if the team doesn’t play better on defense Thursday night.
“You can’t give up 40-whatever points,” Jones observed. “You’ve gotta play football, right? We’ve gotta play much better football than what we’ve played all season long. We’ve got to play four quarters. I watched the first two games of the season this morning and we played extremely hard and fast. But we gave up some big plays and when you’re playing good football teams, that’s what happens.”
RP
@rodpedersen
Is there any news regarding all of the injured players on offence?
If the aging Durant sustains injury again (12 games remain on current season), do the Roughriders cut or trade him (if possible)? When do you say enough's enough with the injuries? Fanbase relying on one player for wins not practicle or good.
No news is bad news!
Ricky Ray, Henry Burris, Zack Collaras, Trevor Harris, Drew Willy, Mike Reilly .. yep, best cut or trade these injury prone QB's too. Yes, Durant has one too many sprained ankles in his eight pro years. There are ample starting QB's out there who have perfect luck and can avoid an injury, its just football after-all .. LOL
Durant gets hurt again because he is not ready and goodbye Riders for another season or perhaps 2.
Quite frankly, getting tired of hearing everyday about handle with care – fragile glass Durant road to recovery for the 3rd season now.
Did you just say "because he is not ready"? Haha oh brother give it a rest. You don't have to complete vacate your starter spot to get a future franchise QB… You have to scout better and make moves to solidify that spot. Look at Burris and Harris in Ottawa. This isn't a Buck Pierce situation where it's repeated hamstring or concussion issues. We are talking about 2 freak injuries that likely happened because he was in too good of shape and a 3rd injury due to what many have deemed as a cheap shot. How about the front office… Read more »
Fragile glass Durant?? Man some Rider fans are clueless! You guys do realize that both his recent ankle injury & the elbow injury 2 years ago were both a result of (dirty?) hits by opposing players. The ankle injury came from a BC player "accidentally" falling on hit legs and the elbow injury was caused by an unpenalized hit that never should have happened after a play was blown dead. Ok, I'll give you that fact that the his achilles injury last season was a little weird, but it's not like he's getting pulling hamstrings on roll outs or tearing… Read more »
Don't blame Durant. Our oline is awful and it's been that way for awhile now. They give most qbs very little chance to succeed. Jones should have seen that coming in and should have cut labatte. He's a giant waste of money. Could have kept chick or dressler with his salary off the books. Jones and Murphy need to start scouting qbs soon and they need to do a much better job than the previous regime did. Taman couldn't find a qb, a kicker, or a middle linebacker in his entire management career. Ed Hervey seems to find several new… Read more »
Now you can correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly, D.D. was a product of the Roy Shivers Regime. The only other Rider Q.B. since then that has shown any potential is Drew Willy…who was referred to the Riders by Danny Barrett out of Buffalo…Since then, past and present Rider G.M's have done a terrible job of scouting U.S. College Q.B's…Just terrible…
Where is our Brandon Jennings?
Much more concentrated research has to go into this area…
Awesome Lawrence gets rewarded for his stellar work…
Who is Brandon Jennings?? A star from the 80's?
Morgan,
Deessler has been hurt most of this season in Winnipeg, so much as I liked Dressler, he wouldn't have helped us very much.
Patrick
Morgan, much as I liked Dressler, he wouldn't have helped us much this year considering he has been hurt for much of 2016, so far.
Patrick
Jonathon Jennings was actually brought in by Taman but was cut after a mini-camp. he then sat around fror a year and a half until BC brought him in.
Why is John Chiles suspended?
Anon said … Now you can correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly, D.D. was a product of the Roy Shivers Regime
Actually Durant was placed on the Ottawa Renegades negotiation list in 2003, by future Saskatchewan Roughriders general manager Eric Tillman. After the Renegades folded, his rights were obtained by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and later dealt to the Roughriders in a trade that included Corey Holmes.
Why is John Chiles suspended?
John Chiles had to tend a family situation this week.