Roughriders feel some pressure to get first win

While it’s not a must-win game, the Saskatchewan Roughriders know Monday’s home opener is an important game early in the 2019 CFL season.

“I think there’s some pressure (to get a win), I think the players feel it and we feel it too as coaches,” head coach Craig Dickenson said after walkthrough Sunday at Mosaic Stadium.

“It’s a very important game. We need to start seeing the results of the work we’re putting in and so it’s going to be important for us to get off to a fast start and try to get a win (Monday).”

Starting quarterback Cody Fajardo agrees there’s pressure on the players to get that first win after opening the season with back-to-back losses.

“If you’re not winning games, faces change,” Fajardo said. “That’s a scary thought but that’s the business that we’re in.

“For me, I love the locker room we have, I love the relationships we have in that locker room and so we want to go out and play for each other because we want to keep that locker room the same.”

The Roughriders are hosting the Toronto Argonauts a week after the Hamilton Tiger-Cats beat Toronto by 50 points, 64-14, in Week 2.

Dickenson said Saskatchewan’s coaching staff has talked to the players all week to remind them that the Argonauts are a team that wants to prove something this week.

“(Toronto) is going to come out fighting and they’re going to come out hard,” Dickenson said. “Our guys know that and they know they’re going to see a different team than what they saw on TV a week ago.”

The Roughriders sit at 0-2 after losing 23-17 to the Tiger-Cats on June 13 and 44-41 to the Ottawa Redblacks on June 20.

During the loss to Hamilton, the Roughriders lost starting quarterback Zach Collaros after he suffered a concussion on the third play of the game following a hit by Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence. Collaros has been home in Ontario recovering and is expected to join the team following its first bye week.

In Collaros’ absence, four-year veteran Fajardo is the starting quarterback. During the loss to Ottawa, Fajardo completed 27 of 34 passes for 360 yards and two touchdowns.

Fajardo said he feels a lot more comfortable preparing for the second start of his CFL career.

“I’m in kind of a rhythm now, which is nice,” Fajardo said. “(It’s important) having confidence going in knowing you’re going to be the guy and the offence is going to go the way you go.”

Fajardo said protecting the ball is his main focus going into this week’s game.

“It’s to give our offence a chance to stay on the field and even if we end with a punt, let our defence get out there,” Fajardo said.

“I still believe that we have the best defence in the CFL. You look at the guys we have, we have a lot of experience back there. I just don’t want to give our defence a short field or two-and-outs hurt our defence as well.”

The Roughriders’ defence will be looking to bounce back after giving up 44 points to the Redblacks.

The unit will also be looking to force a turnover for the first time this season. According to CFL statistician Steve Daniel, the last time the Roughriders went two games in a row without forcing a turnover was Sept. 4, 2016, and Sept. 19, 2016, against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The Roughriders are making changes to the offensive line as well this week. Terran Vaughn will start at right tackle in place of Thaddeus Coleman, who was placed on the one-game injured list. Vaughn dressed for seven games with the Roughriders in 2018.

“We wanted Vaughn out there eventually anyways,” Dickenson said. “At some point we were going to see if Vaughn could get a few games under his belt and then make a decision (about the starter for the rest of the season)

“This was something we talked about in training camp and it was something we were planning on doing all along.”

The team is still missing starting offensive linemen Brendon LaBatte and Dariusz Bladek. LaBatte hasn’t played all year due to a leg injury and Bladek injured a knee in Hamilton. Dakoda Shepley has jumped into Bladek’s right guard role while Philip Blake is in for LaBatte at left guard.

Linebacker Solomon Elimimian and receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux practised all week but were not inserted into the lineup for Monday’s game.

“(They aren’t) quite ready yet but it was tight,” Dickenson said. “We like (Elimimian and Arceneaux) but it was late in the week and we’re going to go with the 45 (players) we’ve got.”

Arceneaux is coming off a torn ACL suffered in September and has practised the past couple of weeks. Elimimian suffered a calf injury during training camp and practised for the first time this week.

Game time Monday is set for 5 p.m. Listen live to the Green Zone Game Day pre-game show, which begins at 3 p.m.

Here’s the Roughriders’ depth chart for the contest: