It was a bad feeling all around for the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday following their loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. A virus that spread throughout the team late last week left the Riders shorthanded in an already tough situation as they were on the road against the top team in the league.
On Monday, Riders Head Coach Craig Dickenson joined Michael Ball on the SportsCage with his weekly appearance and Dickenson said that he too was caught by the bug that affected the team.
“That ranks up right near the top Ballsy, I think that was sickest I’ve ever been for a 12 hour period. ”
The final number of players and coaching staff affected by the illness was 28 according the team’s training staff. Dickenson explained the team’s illness was spread over a couple days with likely six players affected at game time.
Rider President & CEO Craig Reynolds took on an unlikely role on Saturday, after a phone call from the Riders head coach asking for some reinforcements, Reynolds picked up defensive back Blace Brown and international offensive lineman Diego Alatorre Montoya and travelled from Regina to Winnipeg, arriving at IG Field at Winnipeg nine minutes after kickoff.
Dickenson tipped his hat to the Riders President & CEO for his efforts.
“He(Reynolds) said that it was his finest display of driving he’s had in many years.” He added that Reynolds compared himself to a NASCAR driver. While two Rider players were travelling to the game, third string quarterback Jake Dolegala was flown to Winnipeg, unfortunately for the quarterback he felt ill on his way to the game in the airplane according to Dickenson.
Winnipeg ended off the Labour Day rematch on Saturday with a late touchdown pass reception by Dalton Schoen that came with just over a minute over the game which gave the Blue Bombers a final total 54 in the second straight matchup between the blue and gold against the green and white. Dickenson’s concern about the final major of the game wasn’t about the points on the scoreboard, but rather the potential for further injuries.
“At that point of the game, I’ll just tell you my philosophy, when the game is clearly in hand, you’re trying to shorten the game, you don’t want guys to get hurt.” Dickenson also pointed out with the run/pass option, the original play call could’ve been a run.
With the Riders disciplinary problem continuing on Saturday, Dickenson said he’s not concerned about getting less penalties than the opposing team, he just wants to the green and white to take less penalties overall, even if that means they are still committing more fouls than their opponents during the game.
Saskatchewan will host the Edmonton Elks on Friday night in a game that will kickoff Football Weekend in Saskatchewan.
Gameday coverage on 620 CKRM begins at 4:30.Opening kickoff is 7:30
