Naaman Roosevelt will not play this weekend against the Montreal Alouettes.
The Riders leading receiver is getting rested to heal a sore knee he tweaked against Toronto last week. So this week’s Riders receiving corps will likely be Shaq Evans, Jordan Williams-Lambert, Kyran Moore, Kenny Shaw and Josh Stanford. You’re excused if you’re looking for a program. It’s too bad they don’t print them anymore.
Remember in training camp when the Riders had Duron Carter, Roosevelt, Bakari Grant, Caleb Holley and Rob Bagg taking first-team reps? Chad Owens was there as well and now the team is left with three rookies, a veteran in his first start since a major knee injury and a Canadian receiver who barely gets looked at.
And you wonder why the offence has had its struggles this season.
So what happened?
The money got tight, for one. Trading for Charleston Hughes, Willie Jefferson extension, Zack Evans free agent signing didn’t come cheap and either did quarterback Zach Collaros. It’s the reality of the salary cap.
The money has to come from somewhere and Chris Jones decided to sacrifice offence for defence.