Green means go: Riders to begin training camp Saturday

The right to wear green and white this season begins Saturday.

After a 600-day wait since the Saskatchewan Roughriders last took the field, CFL training camps are set to open. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were to be 100 players suiting up for the Roughriders’ camp, the most allowed under the current COVID restrictions by which the CFL needs to play. However, four players suffered Achilles injuries during a workout Thursday.

For head coach Craig Dickenson, the first official day of camp is the first step towards building a Grey Cup-contending team — but he’s not expecting perfection right out of the gate.

“We’ve tried to all along (during the pandemic) keep our guys ready but the reality is until they finally got the green light, I think some players — and coaches as well — were unsure of what ready means,” Dickenson said.

“I think you’re going to see some growing pains through the first few days of camp … and I think there will be a little bit of a transition between ‘We knew it was coming and now it’s actually here and I need to step up and start performing.’ ”

When the Roughriders hit the field, Dickenson expects the team to work hard every day this season.

“I’ve always believed football is still a game where the team that is usually the toughest and strongest wins so we’ve put an emphasis on being good up front — on the O-line and the D-line — and we expect our team as a whole to be tough, to be physical and be hard workers,” Dickenson said.

“I think we’ve got great talent on that roster but I hope our identity is a team of blue-collar, lunchpail, hard-working guys that enjoy being around each other.”

The Roughriders have some holes to fill in terms of new starters in 2021.

The linebacking group doesn’t have any returning starters from 2019: Solomon Elimimian has retired, Derrick Moncrief is with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and 2019 West Division most outstanding Canadian Cam Judge signed with the Toronto Argonauts.

The team thought it had a replacement for Elimimian in Larry Dean, but he was one of the four who injured an Achilles on Thursday. Defensive end Freddie Bishop III, defensive back Nelson Lokombo and running back Jonathan Femi-Cole suffered the same injury.

In addition to Dean, the Roughriders also signed Deon Lacey, who has experience as a starting linebacker in the CFL.

The team will also need to find people to step up on the offensive line. Brendon LaBatte, Takoby Cofield and Braden Schram have all decided to not play in 2021. Dakoda Shepley signed with the San Francisco 49ers in 2020 while Philip Blake and Dariusz Bladek both headed east to join the Argos.

That means only two starters are returning in 2021 who were there in 2019 — centre Dan Clark and tackle Terran Vaughn.

The Riders signed Brett Boyko and Evan Johnson in the off-season but could turn to younger players like Logan Ferland, Mattland Riley and Logan Bandy to fill the void. There’s also veteran Josiah St. John on the roster and a bevy of American offensive linemen vying to make the team.

There will be no pre-season this year, meaning camp will be the coaching staff’s only opportunity to evaluate the players.

Roughriders general manager Jeremy O’Day says he believes the pre-season is a useful tool for them.

“It gives you an opportunity to see them play against another team but also in live games,” O’Day said. “It is an opportunity for a lot of players and there’s a lot of players on our team that won their opportunity by playing in the pre-season.

“You see it every year — we’re into training camp, we’ve got our depth chart set and we go into the pre-season and then after the pre-season game, our depth chart changes.”

But with no pre-season, Dickenson did applaud the league for giving teams a lengthy training camp.

“I think it gives us a chance to slowly build and get to where we need to be,” Dickenson said. “The reality is that first game is going to be a little bit crazy. You don’t know what you’re going to see.”

The Riders’ first game is set for Aug. 6 against the B.C. Lions and is to take place in front of thousands of fans inside Mosaic Stadium.