The Saskatchewan Roughriders wrapped up the formal part of their preparation week with a closed practice on Friday at Mosaic Stadium.
After the practice was done Head Coach Corey Mace confirmed that it is likely that Marcus Sayles will make his Rider debut in the secondary during Sunday’s game in Hamilton. His addition likely means that Nelson Lokombo, who took reps all week at safety, will move from his cornerback spot.
Also discussed was Rider discipline after four players were fined by the league on Thursday for their actions in week 1. Head Coach Corey Mace when asked about the fines says, “Coach Maugeri always says that you are what you put on tape, and we put it on tape. And we have to do a better job as coaches and as players on that.”
The Riders are going to leave early Saturday morning for the Sunday night contest to give the players as much time as possible to get acclimatized to Hamilton and the Eastern time zone.
One thing to watch on game day will be the running game. A.J. Ouellette who was limited to less than 2 yards-per carry in the victory was laser focused on the practice field. Talking after the closed practice he says that he needs to do a better job of communicating with his teammates and coaches in order to read what the defence is doing so that they can exploit it.
As a member of the Argos, Ouellette was public enemy number one at Tim Horton’s Field, and he doesn’t expect it to be any different as a member of the Roughriders. However, when asked if the Thor Hammer would make a trip to the Hammer, he said that it’s a little further commute to bring it to Steel Town than it was last year.
The Riders and Tiger-Cats kick-off Sunday at 5pm in Saskatchewan. 620 CKRM’s Pre-Game coverage begins with Justin Dunk and company starting at 2pm.
