‘We’re going to keep working at it’: Dickenson addresses penalty problem

The CFL team took 14 penalties for 134 yards in its 26-16 win over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday. Edmonton was only penalized eight times for 55 yards.

Dickenson, the Roughriders’ head coach, said he talked to the players on Monday and Tuesday about the infraction issue to avoid similar problems against the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday. Kickoff for the game in Montreal is set for 5:30 p.m. The Green Zone pre-game show begins at 3 p.m.

“I told them we’re not going to go where we want to if we can’t control ourselves. We’ve got to be mentally a lot tougher and we’ve got to resist the urge to talk when we know what’s coming and we’ve got to understand when the refs have had enough,” Dickenson said.

“I think the other thing that will help us is we’ve got to clean up our technique. Our technique is getting us in a lot of trouble where we are getting a lot of holding penalties because we’re not moving our feet.

“We’re going to keep working at it. We know when the games matter most, the team that plays the hardest and the cleanest usually wins.”

It’s a hard line for coaches to toe when they want their players to be aggressive and play with an edge while still telling them to reel it in to avoid costing the team.

“They are competitive guys and they are all alpha males. We had to take two guys and sit them (Tuesday) because they weren’t doing what we asked them to,” Dickenson said. “I’ve found over the years you can talk until you’re blue in the face – you’ve got to take play time away from them.”

Of the 14 penalties the Roughriders took Saturday, seven were for either roughing (one each to centre Dan Clark and defensive end A.C. Leonard) or objectionable conduct (three to linebacker Derrick Moncrief and one each to offensive tackle Na’ty Rodgers and defensive tackle Garrett Marino).

Moncrief took two of his penalties on the same play and was ejected from the game in the third quarter.

“I’ve got to be a better player for my team and finish the game,” Moncrief said. “I didn’t try to (push an official), he kind of walked into it but that’s not me.

“I’ll never do that again. I apologized to my team. I’ve got to be out there for the guys.”

Moncrief said the message was received loud and clear from the coaching staff.

“If you want to be a championship-calibre team, you’ve got to be well-disciplined, you have to play well for four quarters and you’ve got to play smart football,” Moncrief said.

Hughes out, Williams in as Riders release depth chart

The Riders will get back a prominent veteran on the offensive side of the ball but lose one on the defensive side.

Duke Williams is on the depth chart as the team’s starting slotback after missing last week’s game due to an ankle injury suffered in practice.

“Duke looks fine. He feels good,” Dickenson said. “Do I think Duke’s 100 per cent? No, but he’s 90 per cent. Duke at 90 is still pretty good.”

Dickenson said he still expects Mitch Picton to get some snaps at slotback as well. Picton had four catches for 56 yards, a touchdown, and a two-point conversion while starting in place of Williams against Edmonton.

Meanwhile, defensive end Charleston Hughes will be given the week off.

“He’s had a shoulder and an elbow bugging him a little bit. He could have played but he’s beat up pretty good. We wanted to give him a week off and heal him up,” Dickenson said. “He’s legitimately injured and we feel like (Keion) Adams has had a good week of practice so we’re going to dress the healthier guy and the guy that’s fresh.”