Roughriders reschedule game against Argos to Sunday

The Saskatchewan Roughriders were granted a timeout Thursday.

The Roughriders announced they’re moving their CFL game originally scheduled for Saturday against the Toronto Argonauts to Sunday. Game time at Mosaic Stadium remains 5 p.m.

The Roughriders have been dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak, which forced them to cancel practices on Tuesday and Wednesday. The team practised Thursday, but it’s unknown what will happen if more positive COVID cases are detected in the coming days.

“COVID, as we know, is a little bit unpredictable but based on what the doctors have told us, they’re feeling that we’re trending in the right direction,” Roughriders president and CEO Craig Reynolds said during a media conference Thursday.

“We’re coming out of this. We’ve been doing the right things all along, so once you get to this point, we feel the risk is starting to be minimized.

“There always is risk with COVID, but I wouldn’t consider it very high or else we would have probably gone a different direction.”

In a statement, the CFL said the situation in Saskatchewan had “improved” and medical officials were confident the game could be played safely on Sunday.

Reynolds said the Roughriders didn’t want to postpone the game until later in the season.

“We did everything we possibly could to try to not move the game,” he said. “We really wanted the game to go forward on Saturday, but the next-best alternative in our mind was Sunday. It allows us to keep the Family Day theme and obviously has the least amount of impact to both us and the Argos.”

The Argos cancelled practice Thursday, but said it wasn’t COVID-related.

Reynolds said the Roughriders spoke with the CFL’s medical committee when cases started to show up. Then he had discussions with general manager Jeremy O’Day and head coach Craig Dickenson on Tuesday about roster considerations.

“Obviously we had some relatively positive news (Wednesday) with a low number of cases and so we felt more comfortable that we might be able to play the game this weekend,” said Reynolds, who noted there was one more positive test Thursday and 11 players were in the league’s COVID protocol.

On Wednesday, O’Day said 13 players and five staff members had tested positive as of that day.

People who had tickets for Saturday’s game will automatically have their tickets moved to Sunday; no action is required on the part of the ticket holder.

Reynolds confirmed some fans have called and said they can’t travel to Sunday’s game, so the organization is discussing refunds with those patrons who can’t make it to Mosaic Stadium.

“It’s short notice,” he said. “It’s a situation outside of our control, but we feel for our fans; we really do. We know fans plan for Rider games months (and) months in advance and so many do travel a long way.

“We are working with our fans. We understand this is an inconvenience and it’s an unfortunate one.”

The game Saturday was to be a rematch between the two teams after the Argos posted a 30-24 win over the Riders during Touchdown Atlantic in Wolfville N.S., last Saturday.

Reynolds admitted that with COVID and injuries, the Roughriders will face a “challenge” to come up with a solid roster for the rematch, but O’Day and Dickenson have assured the president the team will be competitive.

On Wednesday, O’Day said the entire team was tested in the days prior to travelling to Halifax and everyone who went on the trip had tested negative.

On the Saturday of the game, one player started feeling symptoms. Despite testing negative at the time, that player was isolated from the team.

O’Day said the Roughriders flew back from Nova Scotia on Saturday and then tested players and staff on Sunday, which revealed more positives.