Maas preaches patience for Riders’ offence

Jason Maas would like to see more explosive plays from the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ offence, but he’s not going to change his philosophy to do so.

“The quickest way to score points in this league is explosive plays, but I wouldn’t say it’s a concern. We like to possess the ball as long as possible and establish the line of scrimmage,” the Roughriders’ offensive co-ordinator said.

“The one thing I don’t enjoy doing — and I try to impress this on the quarterbacks — is that we’re not a team that’s going to force balls downfield.

“We rarely call things to just try and throw it down the field. Could we do that and open up things more? Sure.”

The Riders have only had 10 big plays this CFL season — pass plays of more than 30 yards or runs over 20 yards — according to CFL stats. That places them second-last in the league.

“Early in the season when we were throwing some balls up, we weren’t coming down with a lot of them, whether they were 50/50 balls or not. We challenged our guys and said, ‘If we do decide to throw some balls downfield, we need to come down with some of them,’ ” Maas said.

“In Winnipeg, I think we threw three or four deep balls and some of those were on second and short or manageable downs and distances.

“Ultimately I just look at that as part of the game. You can call those plays and operate them and some games you’re going to get them and some games you’re not.”

While the big play downfield hasn’t been there, the Riders find themselves in second place in the CFL’s  West Division, with a 5-2 record. Both of the losses came against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The Riders also earned a last-second win over the B.C. Lions on Friday after Maas and the Riders’ offence orchestrated a 56-yard drive. It ended with quarterback Cody Fajardo scoring the game-winning touchdown with just two seconds left on the clock.

“I think that’s why we play the game — for moments like that and to be successful in moments like that,” Maas said. “As a playcaller, you’re so locked into those moments and then when your team is successful, it does feel very good.”

One of the plays Riders fans may have noticed being utilized more is the screen pass to the wide receiver.

“We don’t want to be throwing a ton of laterals because anything behind (the receiver) and anything he doesn’t catch cleanly is a disaster play, so you’re trying to coach it to where he’s more lateral to going downhill so he can maintain his speed and see things,” Maas said. “There’s a rhyme and reason and spot we want them to always be at.”

The patient approach hasn’t just been seen in the playcalling, but with one of their players as well. Slotback Ricardo Louis had three rough outings, only collecting four catches for 48 yards in the span.

But in the Riders’ game against B.C., Louis caught five passes for 71 yards and a touchdown in the 31-24 win.

“Ricardo came in really late for us; it’s not like he had a full camp or a full off-season with us like the other guys did,” Maas said. “He worked his butt off. The type of routes we saw him running in camp got a little bit better each day.

“We knew he was going to be thrust in. He was a late add (to the main roster), he didn’t get a lot of reps and we threw him in there and the game went the way it went … By the third week you were starting to see the growth and development.”

Maas and the Riders’ offence will try to earn yet another win and keep pace with the Bombers in the West Division on Saturday against the Calgary Stampeders at McMahon Stadium. Kickoff for the game is set for 5 p.m.

Notes: Defensive back Elie Bouka (hamstring) was given the second half of Wednesday’s practice off.