The Kevin Glenn era is about to begin in Saskatchewan, again.
The Riders host the Toronto Argonauts on Sunday afternoon at Mosaic Stadium. The game will be the first this season with Glenn at the controls of the offence after Darian Durant went out for the season last week.
“I’ve always prepared if I was going to play, so it wasn’t any different this week,” said Glenn.
It wasn’t a different week for Glenn in many aspects as this isn’t the first time he’s had to step in for an injured starting quarterback. He’s done it each of the last three years.
That doesn’t mean that this week didn’t come with some new challenges. The biggest thing Glenn felt he needed to work on was just building chemistry with the starting receivers.
“During training camp, we worked together. But, at the same time guys were being evaluated to make the team. Then, Darian’s first week he got a majority of the reps with the guys,” he said.
Chemistry between a quarterback and receiver can sometimes take a while to develop. The Riders are going to need that process to speed up if they’re going to have success against the Argos.
“We were completely confident in (Glenn) before he came in the game,” said running back Anthony Allen.
“There’s complete trust between all of us.”
All eyes on the defence
All week there’s been plenty of attention focused on the Riders defence after the poor display of tackling they showed last week against the Blue Bombers.
When it came to missed tackles, there was too many to count.
“You learn from it. You have to take the mistakes and improve,” said defensive back Terrell Maze.
There was plenty to learn from this week but at the same time the defenders have to try and get over it. Thinking about it too much could lead to even more problems.
To a man, every defensive player said this week it came down to getting back to fundamentals.
That includes some of the worst offenders last week.
“Focus on the little things. Because when you don’t focus on the little things, because when you don’t, as you see, it can be a bad outcome,” said defensive back Macho Harris.
Other than the whiffed tackles, head coach Corey Chamblin didn’t see too much else wrong with his defence.
If it doesn’t improve this week, something drastic will likely have to change.
Roster Check
The Riders depth chart looks a lot different this week than it did last week.
10 new names appear on this week’s roster with 10 names removed and place on either the practice roster or the injured list.
Defensively, linebacker Shea Emry has been placed on the six-game injured list. Coming on this week are defensive back Michael Carter, defensive back Tyree Hollins, safety Tyron Brackenridge, linebacker Akawsi Antwi, linebacker Jake Doughty, defensive lineman Derek Walker and defensive lineman Brandon Tennant.
On the offensive side of the ball, quarterback Tino Sunseri, receiver Seydou Junior Haidara and kicker Paul McCallum are all added to this week’s roster.
Kicker Chris Milo will be one of the team’s two game day scratches.
Kick-off is at 1:30 p.m. on TSN.
The Green Zone 10-hour Game Day begins at 9:30 a.m. with Game Day with Wray followed by the Green Zone Pre-Game Show.
During the game, stay up-to-date and entertained with the Fan Zone with Scotty and the King.
After the game, it’s your turn on the Green Zone Post-Game Show by calling 1-877-300-7275.
JGasson@rawlco.com
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