Injuries have caused problems for the Saskatchewan Roughriders on offence heading into their Week 5 matchup against Edmonton, but the news is more promising on the defensive side of the ball.

For the first time this season, the Roughriders will have safety Jayden Dalke and linebacker Derrick Moncrief in the lineup against the Elks.

Dalke missed Saskatchewan’s 29-26 OT win in Calgary due to a back injury, while Moncrief was out for the opening two games of the season while he recovered from an off-season shoulder injury.

Thursday night will be the first time Moncrief will be played at Mosaic Stadium in about nine months, which is something he’s looking forward to.

In his first action of 2023, the linebacker recorded three tackles and had a knockdown to help the green and white pick up an overtime win against the Stampeders. Moncrief was glad to get back involved in the game.

“Flying around, you know, seeing if I can get that mental thing out of the way, making that first tackle, so I was feeling good, out there with the guys, glad we got the W.”

On the back end of the Saskatchewan secondary, Dalke will try and pick up from where he left off in Edmonton.

“The first game (of the season) was one of the better games of my career. ”

A physical force from the backend, the former Alberta Golden Bear has found a way to harness his physicality within the rules.

“It’s always tricky, but I’ve been hitting like that for awhile now, so I have some reps at it and then it was just getting the speed of this game, in which I took from last year to catch up and seeing it has become a lot easier.”

When both Moncrief and Dalke were down with injuries, it was C.J. Reavis who replaced both players at both safety and linebacker. Moncrief commended the efforts of his teammate.

“Very attentive at meetings, very smart guy, savvy, just a great football player and he just makes great plays on the ball.”

With the Elks winless, Moncrief knows they will be up against a squad desperate for a win.

“No matter what their record is, they’re hungry, physical team.”

He added the response from the Roughriders must come from the entire team.

“We got to play physical football from the top to the bottom for all four quarters.”

Practice Notebook

• After practice, Head Coach Craig Dickenson said the team does not know the extent Jake Wieneke’s knee injury but remains hopeful the team will get him back sooner than later.
• With the injuries with the team’s receivers, Mitch Picton will start at receiver .
• Saskatchewan will try and snap their losing streak at Mosaic Stadium, the green and white have lost their last six games on home turf. Their last win was against the Ottawa REDBLACKS on July 8, 2022.

620 CKRM will have full coverage of tomorrow’s matchup between the Roughriders and the Elks, beginning with Countdown to Kickoff at 4:00, Rider Nation Pre-Game Show at 6:00 and the opening kickoff with Michael Ball and Luc Mullinder at 7:00.