October 2, 2019

Checking Down: News and notes from Week 17

Matt Smith/CFL.ca

TORONTO — Roughriders receiver Jordan Williams-Lambert sets his sights on making his season debut this weekend.

The Toronto Argonauts have yet to name a starting quarterback ahead of their Saturday night matchup against the BC Lions.

Plus, Calgary added veteran linebacker Marcus Ball to the team’s practice roster.

The latest news and notes from Week 17 in this week’s Checking Down:

Jump to team:

BC | Calgary | Edmonton | Saskatchewan | Winnipeg | Hamilton | Toronto | Ottawa | Montreal

BC LIONS

Lemar Durant is eyeing hitting 1,000 yards this season (Geoff Robins/CFL.ca)

Lemar Durant‘s chase to hit the 1,000-yard mark continues as his team also looks to keep their winning streak alive against the Argonauts (Steve Ewen, The Province).

– Riding a three-game winning streak, and despite being on the verge of not making the post-season, head coach DeVone Claybrooks says his Lions are in the mindset is that these are playoff games (TSN1040). 

EDMONTON ESKIMOS

Danny Vandervoort was signed to the Esks practice roster this week (Jimmy Jeong/CFL.ca)

– The Eskimos inked former No. 3 overall pick Danny Vandervoort to a contract this week (CFL.ca).

– DL Almondo Sewell and DB Anthony Orange were limited in practice on Tuesday while DE Kwaku Boateng, WR Tevaun Smith and LB Christophe Mulumba-Tshimanga were not practicing (Dave Campbell, (630CHED).

CALGARY STAMPEDERS

 

– The Stampeders got an early glimpse of playoff weather during their first practice of the week on Monday (CFL.ca).

– According to a report, the Stampeders have signed linebacker Marcus Ball (CFL.ca).

– In other roster news, the Stamps signed running back Timothy Flanders to a practice roster deal on Monday (CFL.ca).

– This week, the Stamps look for their second win at Percival Molson Stadium since 2013 when they take on the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday (CFL.ca).

– Calgary has lose receiver Markeith Ambles for the season after he underwent surgery on his ankle (CFL.ca).

– LB Cory Greenwood did not practice on Monday or Tuesday (Danny Austin, Calgary Sun).

SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS

Jordan Williams-Lambert is looking to make his season debut this weekend (Geoff Robins/CFL.ca)

– In his first year as head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, should Craig Dickenson be in the conversation as Coach of the Year? (Chris O’Leary, CFL.ca).

– Roughriders legend George Reed celebrated his 80th birthday on Wednesday and CFL.ca’s senior writer Chris O’Leary found out exactly how special he is to Saskatchewan (Chris O’Leary, CFL.ca).

– The Riders added American offensive lineman Devon Johnson, American defensive lineman Sterling Shippy and National running back Atlee Simon to the team’s practice roster on Tuesday (Riderville.com).

Jordan Williams-Lambert is set to make his season debut against the Bombers and the 25-year-old is excited to see his first action of 2019 (Britton Gray, 980CJME).

– With Williams-Lambert taking reps with the first-team offence, Manny Arceneaux was moved to the backup group (Claire Hanna, CTV Regina).

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS

 

– This isn’t where the Winnipeg Blue Bombers wanted to be in late September, after a 5-0 start to the regular season and a 9-3 record at the two-thirds mark (CFL.ca).

– WR Drew Wolitarsky, LB/DB Anthony Gaitor and LB Kyrie Wilson didn’t practice on Tuesday (Ed Tait, BlueBombers.com).

– Wolitarsky and Darvin Adams (who was missing from practice on Tuesday due to personal reasons) returned on Wednesday (Ed Tait, BlueBombers.com).

HAMILTON TIGER-CATS

 

– The Ticats silenced not only a hostile crowd but also their detractors in Week 16, thanks to a decisive win over the Bombers. More in the Nissan Titan Power Rankings (CFL.ca).

– No quarterback in the CFL has played better than Dane Evans over the last month. More in the Rockstar QB Index as CFL.ca ranks the pivots (CFL.ca).

– Ticats linebacker Simoni Lawrence set a new CFL record for tackles in a game with 17 against the Blue Bombers (CFL.ca).

– With that dominant performance, Lawrence was named a Shaw Top Performer after Week 16 (CFL.ca).

– As for Top Performers for the month of September, Bralon Addison and Dane Evans were honoured (CFL.ca).

The Tiger-Cats released American WR Josh Crockett and American OL Kelvin Palmer on Wednesday (Ticats.ca).

– DB Delvin Breaux was at practice on Monday and running back Sean Thomas Erlington was also present and doing some light jogging (Kyle Melo, TSN1150).

TORONTO ARGONAUTS

James Wilder is running to raise money for breast cancer research for the month of October (The Canadian Press)

– Ahead of their trip to BC this weekend, the Toronto Argonauts have yet to name a starting quarterback (Frank Zicarelli, Toronto Sun).

– Running back James Wilder Jr. is running for a cause this month, donating money for every yard and touchdown he and other running backs around the league accumulate (Frank Zicarelli, Toronto Sun). 

OTTAWA REDBLACKS

They have a losing record but the Ottawa REDBLACKS want to finish 2019 on a positive note (Patrick Doyle/CFL.ca)

– Despite sitting at 3-11, the Ottawa REDBLACKS aren’t looking ahead to 2020, they’re focused on finishing off the season strong (Tim Baines, Ottawa Sun).

MONTREAL ALOUETTES

Should Khari Jones be in the conversation of Coach of the Year? (Arthur Ward/CFL.ca)

– In roster news, the Alouettes signed running back Christopher Amoah to their practice roster on Tuesday (CFL.ca).

– The team also added American LB Jason Hall and American CB Najee Murray to the practice roster on Wednesday (MontrealAlouettes.com).

– The Alouettes are close to locking up their first home playoff game since 2014 led by Khari Jones. Should the Als bench boss be in the conversation for Coach of the Year? (Chris O’Leary, CFL.ca).

– Speaking of playoffs, with a win this weekend, Montreal will clinch a home playoff date (CFL.ca).

– After his costly fumble in last weekend’s loss to the Lions, QB Antonio Pipkin took responsibility for the play and is ready to move on from the mistake (Herb Zurkowsky, Montreal Gazette).