No excuses for Riders ahead of injury-riddled matchup

REGINA — It’s safe to say the Roughriders have wiped their Week 18 performance in Winnipeg away from their memory after being shut out 31-0 at Investors Group Field to the Bombers.

The shortened week following their Thanksgiving Monday game may be to blame for the loss, but Chris Jones and his staff are insisting they don’t make excuses.

“That’s not why we lost the game, I’ll tell ya that,” Jones said following practice on Tuesday.

Jones, rather than dwelling on the loss, is moving forward with game planning for Calgary after they too lost their Week 18 game. The BC Lions handed the Stampeders their first home loss of the season, an impressive feat considering we’re halfway through the month of October with just three weeks of the regular season schedule remaining, but nonetheless, Saskatchewan is looking at that as an advantage heading into Saturday’s game.

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Zach Collaros will need to shake off last week’s dismal performance against Winnipeg and get the offence rolling against a tough Calgary defence. (Jason Halstead, CFL.ca)

The matchup showcases the current No. 1 and 2 ranked teams in the West Division as the playoff picture will start to take its final look in the coming of weeks. Saskatchewan handed the Stampeders their first loss of the season after starting 7-0 on the year.

“It’s going to be a good game,” Jones says. “They’re a very well-coached football team. They’ve won the most football games this season, and in past, they’ve won a ton of football games for a reason. They do things the right way and they’re very tough at home.”

Just like any other team at this point in the season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders have been handed their list of injuries to deal with, most recently announcing that defensive tackle Mic’hael Brooks and offensive lineman Dariusz Bladek are done for the rest of the season.

Bladek, who went down to injury in last weekend’s game against Winnipeg, was replaced by Josiah St. John. The former first overall draft pick held his own as Jones stated, saying, “you didn’t call his name negatively. You didn’t see his guy running past him. I think that’s the mark of good offensive lineman or DB. That’s when you know whether they’re doing good or bad is when you notice them negatively.”

Despite the Riders’ list of injuries piling up towards the end of the season, Calgary also has endured a fair share of injuries as well, practically completely overhauling their receiving corps as a result of it. As a result, injuries aren’t an excuse for poor performance come game day in Jones’ mind.

“We as coaches have to get whoever we have ready to play,” he said. “You never make some excuse for not getting someone ready. They’ve got to all get ready to play, and play at a high level.”

Saturday’s game will take place at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. Last week’s loss to the Lions is Calgary’s only blemish at home this season but Saskatchewan will take a 5-3 road record with the hope of handing the horsemen their second loss at McMahon when the game gets under way at 7:00 p.m. ET.

With files from Riderville.com