There’s a little more pressure on Marcus Sayles these days, and that’s just fine with him.
Amid injuries in the defensive backfield to key veterans Tevaughn Campbell and Rolan Milligan Jr., the Saskatchewan Roughriders have tasked Sayles with a bigger role on and off the field. He’s embraced his new leadership duties enthusiastically, something that’ll continue Saturday when the Riders visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“That’s part of my job,” Sayles said. “This is my third year here, my eighth year in the CFL. That just comes with it. I’m supposed to be that person that’s supposed to bring up the young guys or bring up somebody who hasn’t had that much experience.
“Hopefully, they’ve been able to learn something from me.”
The 31-year-old is more than just a teacher, mentor, or rah-rah cheerleader, though. He’s now the anchor of the secondary sans Campbell and Milligan.
The Riders have been flipping strong and weak-side defensive backs with the thinner group, meaning Sayles has had more opportunities to take on the CFL’s best wideouts more often at corner.
“I love going against any of the top receivers in this league,” he said. “Whenever I get a chance to go against somebody like that, it builds my game. It makes playing in the game more intense. Wherever the coaches need me to be, I’m going to be ready for it.”
That intense assignment will no doubt continue Saturday in Hamilton against Kenny Lawler and Kiondre Smith.
Lawler was a CFL all-star last season and has 31 receptions for 430 yards and five touchdowns. Smith, an East Division all-star in 20225, has 36 catches for 528 yards and three majors.
“They have a history of already being big-play receivers,” Sayles said. “Kenny is going to get his deep shots. Kiondre, he moves around a lot, but he’s still going to find his holes and find his plays.
“Our recipe every single week is to just not give up a lot of the explosion plays. They’re going to get their catches here and there. But if we don’t give up any explosions and we don’t give up any touchdowns, we feel like we’ll be successful.”
The Tiger-Cats will present a different look on offence compared to the teams’ first matchup of the season last month.
Harrison Frost is slated to get the call at quarterback, whereas former Rider Jake Dolegala started behind centre in Regina before ceding the duties to Tre Ford with the game out of reach.
Sayles is less worried about who’s leading the Hamilton offence in place of the injured Bo Levi Mitchell and more concerned about proper coverage.
“We’re about route conceptions, where certain people are supposed to be, not so much who’s throwing it,” he said. “As long as we lock down on what we’ve been talking about in film, I feel like we’ll be OK.”
A lot of that could come down to Sayles’ effectiveness against Hamilton’s top receivers. He’s gotten used to his increased importance and ready for what’s about to come his way once again.
“I’m going to get a lot of work,” Sayles said. “I trust my game. I trust what I can do in this defence.”
