Changes coming to Riders’ offensive line

After weeks of preaching continuity along the offensive line, the Saskatchewan Roughriders have made a change.

The team released tackle Na’Ty Rodgers on Tuesday. Rodgers had committed 14 penalties — eight for holding, three for rough play, two for objectionable conduct and one for illegal procedure — and was often criticized by fans during the first half of the CFL season.

On Tuesday, head coach Craig Dickenson explained the number of infractions played a role in the team’s decision to move on from the 27-year-old Rodgers.

“He wasn’t playing well enough and he was taking too many penalties and that’s something we’ve been adamant about from the get-go,” Dickenson said. “We really emphasize playing within the rules, playing clean and he wasn’t able to do that.

“We talked to him numerous times and really tried to bring it home to him but, at some point, if a guy is struggling to play within the rules and isn’t playing well on top of that, you’ve got to make a decision that, in my opinion, is best for the team.

“We wish him all the best. We sure enjoyed having him around and think he’s a good dude, but we just felt like for our team to move forward, we had to cut ties with him.”

Now the Riders will try to find a new right tackle to try and decrease the number of sacks the team has been giving up over the first half of the regular season. The Riders have given up a CFL-high 32 sacks through nine games.

“There’s always room for improvement; it doesn’t matter what we do,” offensive line coach Stephen Sorrells said. “Our standard is to get better every day and we’re going to always adhere to that standard.”

The Riders will look to keep the pressure off quarterback Cody Fajardo against the B.C. Lions on Friday. Kickoff for the game is set for 8 p.m. The Green Zone pre-game show begins at 6 p.m.

Sorrells said the key to improving the protection will be communicating with each other better.

“(We have to) make sure we are doing the right things before the snap — identifying the fronts (and) making sure we’re making the right communication calls,” Sorrells said. “I thought at times (Saturday against the Edmonton Elks), especially in the run game, we miscommunicated some things we haven’t really miscommunicated.

“The biggest thing is doing the right things over and over again.”

While the Elks were able to provide pressure by just rushing three defenders, Sorrells said he doesn’t view it as that way.

“I felt like for the most part, we did a decent job of providing a pocket. It’s not going to be perfect every time, but we want it to be and we want to strive for perfection,” Sorrells said.

“It’s a combination of things. Protection is a 12-person thing. It’s us blocking, the tailback blocking if he’s got to block a guy in protection, receivers running the right routes and the ball coming out.”

The Riders will have a couple of changes along the offensive line. Along with the release of Rodgers, the Wednesday injury report indicated left tackle Terran Vaughn has been ruled out with a hamstring injury.

That means Andrew Lauderdale likely gets the start at left tackle with Jamal Campbell at right.

“For me, I just look at it as a journey,” Campbell said of making his first start with the Roughriders. “You’ve just got to control what you can control and the most important thing is to try and get better every day.”

Campbell, who is from Toronto and played five seasons with the Argonauts, was one of the Riders’ big free-agent signings this past off-season.

“This is just an opportunity for me to get a different perspective and refresh my career and just come out here and look for an opportunity,” Campbell said.

Campbell was a teammate of Fajardo in 2016 and 2017 with the Argos.

“He’s still my dog; he’s just more of a dog now. He’s had a few years — me and Cody go way back — and he’s just gotten so much better,” Campbell said.