Only a walkthrough practice remains for the Saskatchewan Roughriders before they meet the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday.
Riders Head Coach Craig Dickenson still has a couple questions that need to be solved before the matchup at Mosaic Stadium.
Tevin Jones and Dieuly Aristilde Jr. have been auditioning at practice this week to replace Shaq Evans in the Riders lineup. After practice on Thursday, Dickenson said no decision had been made but he did say that he liked what he saw from both receivers during the week. “We have two American receivers on the P.R. (practice roster) and we got them there for a reason, we want to see what they can do and they’ve had enough time to learn the offence, so they should be able to do it.”
Defensive back Nelson Lokombo was sidelined with a hamstring injury in practice on Wednesday and looking ahead to Saturday, the Riders Head Coach said it’s not too promising for the University of Saskatchewan product to be on the field.
There are two possibilities to replace Lokombo’s spot according to Dickenson. One option is for Malcolm Lee so they can keep the Canadian ratio in tact with five on offence and two on defence, or else the Riders will dress another American to fill the open spot in the secondary.
Offensive Tackle Terran Vaughn has been limited in practice over the past couple days but is still expected to be on Riders roster on Saturday.
It looks like the Riders defensive front will be in full force this week. AC Leonard was slowed down with a toe injury on Wednesday but it appears that the defensive end will be good to go on Saturday.
On a defence that has started strong, Pete Robertson has led the charge for the green and white defenders. After the first three weeks of the season the Texas Tech product leads the CFL in sacks with five.
Robertson noted the strength of the defensive line is their depth. “There’s no drop off, you can’t really tell the difference between the first guys and the second guys, everybody makes plays and do their jobs.”
Along with the depth, the willingness to make a sacrifice is another strength for the defensive line says Robertson. “Guys are willing to play anything and guys are willing to sacrifice their body to make sure our defence stay on top.”
Even with an impressive start in the sack total, the only stat that concerns Robertson is the wins and losses. ” At the end of the day the stats show what they show, the main thing I’m shooting for is getting that W.”
The homefield advantage is something Robertson enjoys about Rider nation, especially since it draws back to his memories of playing high school football in Texas. “It gives that hometown feeling because we had huge crowds when we were in high school, gives me chills just thinking about it, but I love the fans because once I’m zoned out the only thing I hear are the fans, the coaches and my teammates.”
Robertson will get another to create a frenzy at Mosaic Stadium when the Riders host the Alouettes on Saturday. You can catch the game on 620 CKRM with opening kickoff at 5:00.
