Roughriders looking to clean up mistakes following loss to Calgary

Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson is disappointed by the mistakes his team made Friday against the Calgary Stampeders.

The Roughriders let a chance to control their path to the CFL’s West Division crown slip through their fingers, losing 30-28 to the host Stampeders.

Calgary has the edge in the race for top spot in the West after winning both regular-season meetings against Saskatchewan. While the Roughriders still have a path to the West Division crown, they need to win out and hope Calgary drops one of its final three games.

The Roughriders play B.C. on Friday in Vancouver before playing a home-and-home series with the Edmonton Eskimos. Kickoff for this week’s game is set for 8 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Stampeders have a home-and-home against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers before ending their regular season against the Lions.

Dickenson wasn’t happy with the errors his team made in Calgary.

“I thought we lost our composure at times. I felt like we showed some grit and some fight but I just didn’t feel like we played as well as we’re capable of,” Dickenson said Monday. “We made some uncharacteristic mistakes, I thought, in terms of our reaction to adversity.”

Dickenson said a couple of mistakes came from the penalties his team took in the game. Saskatchewan was penalized seven times for 91 yards, while Calgary was penalized six times for 69 yards.

Saskatchewan defensive back Ed Gainey was penalized on two plays in the row, the first being a pass interference penalty and then an objectionable conduct penalty. Both penalties amounted to 46 yards on the Stamps’ drive, which ended in Bo Levi Mitchell throwing his first of two touchdown passes to Hergy Mayala.

The Roughriders are the second-most-penalized team in the CFL in 2019 with 160 (the Eskimos have committed 182).

Dickenson said the number of penalties his team has been taking is concerning.

“Especially the ones that are avoidable like the late flags or the objectionable conducts or the pushing-and-shoving B.S. that we were doing,” Dickenson said. “Here’s the crazy thing — the guys making those mistakes are our veterans so it’s not that they don’t know any better so we will try to correct those.

“If they continue to do it, they won’t play.”

While the Roughriders are no longer in control in the race for first in the West, quarterback Cody Fajardo said their mindset needs to remain the same.

“We still have to win out,” Fajardo said following Monday’s practice. “All we can do is win games and hope that Winnipeg helps us out.

“We can’t take that and say, ‘I hope this happens, I hope this happens,’ and then we lose a game. We don’t want it to be a distraction.”

Fajardo said while the Lions are no longer playing for a spot in the playoffs, their players are still playing for their jobs.

“(It’s) almost scarier than playing for playoffs because guys want to be on (the Lions’) roster for next year,” Fajardo said. “We know it’s going to be a tough test to travel all the way to B.C. and beat them on their home field.”

Notes: Linebacker Cam Judge (concussion) returned to practice Monday. He’s expected to rejoin the lineup this week … Defensive lineman Micah Johnson injured his ankle in the game against the Stampeders. Dickenson said the team is hopeful Johnson can practise Tuesday but he’ll be a game-day decision … Linebacker Derrick Moncrief missed practice because he was visiting his mom. He’s expected to be at practice Tuesday … Defensive backs Loucheiz Purifoy (undisclosed) and Elie Bouka (back) were absent Monday. Both could return to practice Tuesday … Offensive lineman Philip Blake was practising. He suffered a broken leg against the Lions on July 20 … Former Roughriders president Gordon Staseson died over the weekend. Staseson helped create the Plaza of Honour in 1987. He was 93 years old … The Roughriders are practising at the University of Regina as preparations for the NHL Heritage Classic are underway at Mosaic Stadium. The NHL game will pit the Calgary Flames against the Winnipeg Jets … The Green Zone pre-game show gets underway Friday at 6 p.m.