When the Saskatchewan Roughriders conclude their season on Saturday against the Calgary Stampeders at McMahon Stadium, it will be Mason Fine leading the way for the green and white at quarterback.
On Tuesday, Fine took all the snaps with the first team offence as the Riders kicked off preparations for their final game in 2022. Saskatchewan was eliminated from postseason contention following their 32-21 loss against the Stampeders.
The second year quarterback is feeling confident and more comfortable heading into his second straight start.
With the Roughriders season set to come to a conclusion, many inside of Rider nation have already begun looking ahead to 2023, Fine believes it’s important to finish 2022 off on a positive note.
“Same thing as last week, just the exact same thing, just go out there and do my job, make the right decisions, throw accurate balls, and put my team to be in the best position to be successful.”
After watching the film against Calgary, the North Texas product had a few takeaways from the game.
“It was a tough situation that we were in, I’m not going to lie, but maybe just staying in locked in on my footwork, and my eyes, and just being a tad more accurate, other than there’s a lot of great stuff to work with and build on.”
Cody Fajardo started all but one game for Saskatchewan in 2022 before Fine took over the duties last week.
Fajardo was proud of the way Fine handled himself considering the circumstances.
“He got to throw a touchdown which was awesome, I thought he did a great job with clock management, didn’t take any time counts, and made plays, used his legs, and I think he will have more confidence going into this week.”
Fine ended his debut as a starting quarterback with 196 yards passing along with a touchdown and no interceptions.
Head coach Craig Dickenson confirmed after practice that Fine would be making the start against the Stampeders and added that Fajardo will dress as the backup quarterback with Jake Dolegala possibly suiting up as the team’s third quarterback.
On Tuesday, Fajardo once again stated his desire to compete somewhere in 2023.
“I think I owe it to myself and take it to free agency and see what’s going to happen from there, I’m not going to rule out any team, I want to play football a little bit longer, so I’m not sure what’s going to happen.”
Even though the former starting quarterback has been relegated to backup for the final two weeks of the season, Dickenson believes that Fajardo has handled the Riders quarterback shuffle with a lot of class.
“He was in early again today, he comes in everyday, early, he studies the game plan, he knows what we’re doing offensively, he’s a pro, and that’s what pros do.”
Fine believes that his teammate has handled the transition as best as one can.
“He’s staying very positive, he’s still a leader in that locker room, he has helped me out tremendously, he’s been not only just a great teammate, but a great friend and always having my back, and he’s shown nothing but support, and I can’t appreciate enough, he’s been awesome.”
Coverage of Saturday’s game on 620 CKRM with Countdown to Kickoff at 3:00, the opening kickoff at 6:00.
