‘He has been a total pro:’ Clark rejoins Riders starters

Jeremy Clark was willing to do whatever he could to help the Saskatchewan Roughriders — even if that meant spending the past two games as a healthy scratch.

“It was a whole ratio thing. We had a lot of injuries so I was willing to do whatever I had to do to help my team,” Clark said. “When Americans go down, you have to bring some up and put some down. That’s just a part of the CFL – it comes with the territory.”

Clark is to return to the Roughriders’ lineup as a defensive halfback Saturday against the Calgary Stampeders due to an injury to Rolan Milligan Jr. Milligan Jr. was added to the six-game injured list due to a foot injury.

Kickoff for the game is set for 5 p.m. The Green Zone pre-game show begins at 3 p.m.

“It feels great to get a chance to get out there and play with my guys,” Clark said. “I’m just super excited to be back out there.”

Riders head coach Craig Dickenson praised the 29-year-old for how he has handled the situation.

“He has been good. He has come to work every day and worked on his craft and gotten better and I’m glad we could dress him,” Dickenson said. “I’m glad we could go back and get him on the field.”

Dickenson admitted it’s hard to tell a player he won’t be playing due to ratio issues.

“They don’t understand it quite as well as you wish sometimes, so it’s a hard pill to swallow,” Dickenson said. “We really try to explain, ‘Here’s how the ratio works. It changes from week to week and it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have played poorly. It may just mean that you can’t play because we have to switch the ratio and we have to do what we’ve got to do that way.’

“He has been a total pro.”

Clark has played in 24 CFL games over two-plus seasons, recording 41 tackles and one interception.

The Riders’ defence will do what it can to stop a Stamps offence that features a struggling quarterback in Jake Maier, but a solid ground game with Dedrick Mills.

Maier has thrown for 907 yards, six interceptions and just two touchdowns so far in 2023.

“I’ve seen a couple of big plays and a couple that were a few inches off from being good plays,” Clark said.

Mills has 273 yards on the ground in three games.

“(I) just need to get in on the run fits. Whenever we see there’s a run play, don’t be too late getting into the box,” Clark said.

It will be a big game in terms of playoffs despite it only being July; a Riders win would let the Green and White clinch the season series with Calgary for the first time since 2018.

“This is one of the ‘money games,’ so everyone is going to be locked in for this one,” Clark said. “It’s funny with how long the season is, there’s already a ‘money game’ — but the more of those, the better.”

There are some other changes for the Riders on defence, with defensive end Anthony Lanier II (foot) being put on the one-game injured list. Defensive tackle DeMarcus Christmas is to return to the lineup.

On offence, Eric Lofton will play left tackle after a finger injury to Brandon Council. Lofton played two games this season at right tackle.