‘We need a spark:’ Riders to start Fine against Calgary

The CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders have picked a Fine time to make a change at quarterback.

With two games remaining in their regular-season schedule and with their playoff lives hanging in the balance, the Roughriders have opted to give Mason Fine the start Saturday against the Calgary Stampeders and send Cody Fajardo to the bench.

“We need a spark and we feel like Mason has done a good job of staying ready and getting ready,” Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson said after Wednesday’s practice at Mosaic Stadium.

Fine took the first-team reps during Tuesday’s practice as Fajardo watched from the sideline. After that workout, Dickenson said Fajardo had been given the day off.

Fine was again working with the starters Wednesday, and Dickenson confirmed after practice that the change was being made.

“We just need to be better on offence,” Dickenson said when asked what aspect of Fine’s game would provide the spark for which the coaches are looking.

“We’re not scoring enough points. We need to score more and that involves all of us. But we feel like maybe with a different quarterback, we can give teams a little different look and hopefully score a few more points.”

Through 16 games this season, the Roughriders have scored 356 points, better than only the Ottawa Redblacks (337) and Edmonton Elks (340) in the nine-team league.

Saskatchewan has scored just 89 points during its current five-game losing streak, and has scored 24 points or fewer in each of its 10 losses this season.

Fajardo has thrown 16 touchdown passes in 15 games. He was 282-for-401 passing for 3,360 yards with 13 interceptions before his demotion.

Asked if the switch was a reflection on Fajardo’s performance this season, Dickenson replied: “Not necessarily. But the reality is we’re 2-and-9 in our last 11 so we’ve got to score more and we’ve got to play better.”

“We’ve been happy with Cody,” the head coach added. “He’s done everything. He’s a warrior. We just felt like we need to see what Mason can do. Now’s as good a time as any to put him out there.”

Fine has completed 28 of 42 pass attempts for 326 yards with two TDs and three interceptions this season.

The second-year Roughrider wasn’t made available to the media on Wednesday. On Tuesday, he said getting to work with the starting offence was vital.

“Just to get the timing,” he said. “Especially being a backup, you don’t get to throw to receivers like Shaq (Evans), Swerve (Kyran Moore), and (Kian Schaffer-Baker). Until you’re in there in the fire and guys are moving 100 miles an hour, then you have to think quick and make quick, accurate throws.”

Dickenson said the coaches “thought long and hard” over the bye week about making the move. They wanted to see Fine work with the starters on Day 1 of practice before pulling the trigger.

Fajardo admitted he was “upset” and “frustrated” when he was told by the coaches he was being benched, but he vowed to help Fine however he could.

“He’s got a great opportunity to seize the moment (and) seize an opportunity,” Fajardo said. “It’s tough being the starting quarterback for a team that didn’t live up to our expectations. I feel like you kind of take that negativity and if you want to make a splash or a big change to get a spark, you bench the quarterback. I’m a casualty of it.”

The switch is being made as the Roughriders’ playoff hopes dwindle. Saskatchewan can only make the playoffs by crossing over into the East Division — and it has to finish the regular season with more wins than the third-place team in that division.

Currently, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Roughriders have 6-10-0 records. Any combination of Hamilton wins or Saskatchewan losses adding up to two will eliminate the possibility of a crossover.

Dickenson said the fact the Roughriders don’t control their playoff destiny factored “a little” into the decision to switch quarterbacks, but the desire to get back into the win column was a bigger reason.

“We’re willing to do anything and everything right now to try to win a couple games and hopefully it’s enough,” Dickenson said. “We don’t know if it’s going to be, but we need to find some answers and we need to find them fast.”

#Riders head coach Craig Dickenson on the decision to make the change at QB. #CFL pic.twitter.com/jc36Nwuknx

— Britton Gray (@BrittonGray) October 19, 2022