‘He has earned the right to keep playing’: Fine to start against Redblacks

Despite being on a three-game losing streak, the Saskatchewan Roughriders believe they are still fine at the quarterback position.

Mason Fine is to start his third straight game on Sunday as the Riders host the Ottawa Redblacks at Mosaic Stadium. Kickoff for the game is set for 5 p.m.

Head coach Craig Dickenson believes the film shows Fine should be the starter based on last week’s 31-13 loss to the Toronto Argonauts in Halifax during the CFL’s Touchdown Atlantic game.

“He played well when you watch the film. He made a lot of tough throws under duress and, for the most part, played a pretty sound game,” Dickenson said after Wednesday’s practice. “He had the one pick late but we were down in that game and he was pressing.

“I feel good about Mason. I think he is going to get better this week and he has earned the right to keep playing.”

One of the criticisms of Fine’s previous two starts has been the offence’s inability to score touchdowns with him at the helm. The 26-year-old pivot has yet to lead a drive that has ended in a touchdown over two starts.

Over those two losses, Fine has thrown for 580 yards and four interceptions.

“I don’t feel any pressure or anything like that; we just have to keep running our offence,” Fine said. “Obviously you have to put points up and that’s what I care about — putting points on the board no matter how you get it done.

“You have to get it done and put more points on the board as a group and as an offence. You have to keep challenging yourself and know you’re going to get better.”

Jake Dolegala entered Saturday’s game late in the fourth quarter and in his only drive completed four of five passes for 100 yards and a 31-yard scoring strike to Shawn Bane Jr.

“It was good,” Dolegala said. “I thought we did what we wanted to on that drive and executed pretty well.

“We scored and it was good.”

After the game, Dickenson explained he put in Dolegala to see what he could do with some game reps. Dickenson said the plan doesn’t change this week.

“(Fine and Dolegala) both know they are going to probably play and they both need to do well,” Dickenson said. “Shea (Patterson) knows we might use him as well.

“It’s a game you could see one quarterback for the whole 60 minutes or you could see all three.”

While Fine and Dolegala are competing for playing time, Fine said it was good to see his backup go in and lead a touchdown drive.

“You want to see your guys do well and your friends have success,” Fine said. “The same thing happened last year when I had success when they put me in there early against Montreal and Cody (Fajardo) showed me the support I needed.

“I know how much that helped me moving forward so I’m going to do the same thing for Jake and it just gives the team confidence and him confidence moving forward he can go out and play.”

Notes: Dickenson said slotback Brayden Lenius suffered a foot injury against the Argos. “It doesn’t look good for him, though. We will see (Thursday) how he is but we are planning on going without him,” Dickenson said … The Riders brought back offensive tackle Jordan Tucker. Tucker was the expected starter at right tackle during training camp but he suffered an injury early in camp. Dickenson said Tucker is still a few weeks away from contributing.