Vince Young not playing in Riders preseason game Saturday

Fans hoping to get their first glimpse of Vince Young in Regina on Saturday will be disappointed.

The former NFL quarterback left Tuesday’s practice with a suspected hamstring injury and did not return.

After practice on Wednesday, head coach Chris Jones confirmed there is no timetable for Young’s recovery and he will not be playing in this weekend’s preseason game against Winnipeg.

“There’s not really an update, it’s a little bit of a lower leg injury, we’re having it evaluated,” Jones explained. “It’s in the hamstring area, but I don’t want to make a formal announcement until they tell me exactly what’s wrong with it.”

Jones said it was expected that Young would split reps with Brandon Bridge and Bryan Bennett in Saturday’s matchup, which Jones had hoped to use as a way to test the quarterback’s grace under pressure.

“In that moment with the stadium opened up, we wanted to try to get all three quarterbacks to see how can handle the moment,” Jones said. “Unfortunately for Vince he’s not going to get that opportunity and we’re going to go with the other two and the big stage is there for them.”

As for what the injury means for Young and his comeback, Jones was reluctant to say.

“It’s like the old adage, it’s tough to make the football team if you’re hurt and it’s tough to get evaluated if you’re not out there playing. Vince is up against, and he’s been around football before and he knows exactly what he’s got to do to get back healthy and get back out and start competing.”

Young was signed by the Roughriders in March after being away from professional football for several years.

Injury list still significant

According to Riderville.com there were a number of players who missed practice Wednesday including:

• Defensive linemen Ivan Brown, A.C. Leonard and Ese Mrabure
• Defensive backs Zavian Bingham and Kacy Rodgers
• Linebackers Sam Eguavoen and Kevin Francis
• Running back Kienan LaFrance
• Punter Josh Bartel and punter-kicker Quinn Van Gylswyk
• Long-snapper Jorgen Hus
• Receiver Chad Owens

In addition to that, several players started practice but didn’t finish including:

• Receivers Ricky Collins Jr. and Caleb Holley
• Defensive lineman Jordan Reaves
• Linebacker Glenn Love

Other camp notes

The Roughriders announced they traded offensive lineman Matt Vonk to Montreal in exchange for wide receiver/defensive back Denzel Radford.

The team also signed Crezdon Butler and Chris Lyles, released Reggis Ball and Ja’Boree Poole and announced the retirement of Marc Glaude.