If you didn’t get enough of the Montreal – Saskatchewan rivalry, you’re in luck because these two teams are going head-to-head for the second week in a row. This time, the Als will be visiting Mosaic Stadium on Saturday night.
Here’s what you need to know about the game:
Jake Wieneke back in:
Jake Wieneke will be back in the lineup after missing last week’s clash. He was working with the first-team offence all week and he was able to make some plays every day.
The 27-year-old was hampered by an injury throughout training camp, and it seemed to be holding him back in the first two weeks of the season. It’s important to remember that Wieneke led the CFL in touchdowns last year, with 11.
He’s one of the more precise route runners in the league, he has great hands and he’s tough to bring down when he has the ball. Don’t be surprised if starting quarterback Trevor Harris looks to get him involved in the passing game early and often.
Through three games, Als receivers have made some big plays. Geno Lewis leads the league in receiving yards, while Kaion Julien-Grant and Tyson Philpot were both able to come up with plays that resulted in gains of more than 60 yards.
David Brown to start for Sean Jamieson:
Brown will make his first start of the season for the injured Jamieson. The 27-year-old had a solid training camp and is able to fill in anywhere along the offensive line. Now, he’ll benefit from working at one position for an extended period of time.
The second-year Alouette suited up in 10 games last year and he made three starts at centre while Jamieson missed a string of games with an injury.
The former Western Mustang will have the difficult task of playing on the road in Regina where the fans aren’t shy about making noise when the opponent’s offence has the ball. The Als worked on their silent count all week, which they always do before road games.
“David Brown has been around for a while,” Harris said after Thursday’s practice. “He’s done a great job and he’s a football junkie. To me, it’s a seamless transition for him. We’re going to miss Jamieson because he’s a heck of a player, but David Brown has done an admirable job. He’s a junkie. He’s one of those guys that’s a gym rat in there late hours in the night, asking questions and explaining things to me whenever I ask him. I’m excited for him to get an opportunity.”
Left tackle Nick Callender will be making his second consecutive start. He replaced Chris Schleuger in the lineup as of last week. As always, offensive linemen aren’t flashy, but Callender did a solid job protecting Harris’ blind side.
The Riders boast an impressive defensive line led by rush end A.C. Leonard. It’ll be vital for the Als offensive line to give their quarterback time to throw ball on Saturday.
Najee Murray’s big performance:
Murray made his return to the starting lineup last week and he was one of the better players on the field. He should’ve had an interception early in the first quarter, but he couldn’t snag the ball. He was also in great position throughout most of the night.
What made the performance even more impressive is that he went up against Riders receiver Duke Williams fairly often. Williams is one of the highest paid receivers in the league and he’s big and physical, which makes him difficult to cover at times.
“Duke is a pretty good football player,” Murray said on Wednesday. “I mean, it’s just like anybody. I respect whoever I play
The 28-year-old finished last week’s game with five tackles and several pass knockdowns. It’ll be interesting to see how that battle plays out in Regina this weekend.
Of course, it always helps the secondary when the front-seven is able to put so much pressure on the opposing quarterback. The Als were able to do that A LOT last Thursday. They finished with eight quarterback sacks, and they made Cody Fajardo’s life very difficult.
The rest of the secondary also played well. Marc-Antoine Dequoy, who is still getting comfortable at safety, is playing at a high level already. He had a pick-six during the third quarter of Thursday’s game. The Als safety has lots of experience picking off passes during his time at the University of Montreal, so his ball-skills are on point.
Rodney Randle Jr., Wes Sutton, Murray and Mike Jones have also done an impressive job. Keep in mind, this is a unit that is without veteran Greg Reid (lower body).
Doing it all over again:
Winning in Regina is never easy. On top of that, the Riders are going to be pissed off by their performance in Montreal last week.
“It’s a little different just because teams are who they are, so you have different plays that you run,” head coach Khari Jones said of Saturday’s game. “They know what we’re going to do, we know what they’re going to do. There’s going to be wrinkles of course. It’s just about who performs the best and who executes the best.
“There are things they probably didn’t use and there are things we didn’t use in the first game and things that we discovered from this game. We’re just going to bring out our best and hope it’s good enough.”
The Als have played teams back-to-back times recently. Last year, it happened on two separate occasions. First, they managed to beat Ottawa twice in a row Oct. 11 and Oct. 16. Second, they played the eventual Grey Cup champions Nov. 6 – Nov. 13. The Als dropped the first game in Winnipeg, but they won the second tilt at Molson Stadium
