Jamie Nye: A smart play by the Riders ahead of a very important week of practice

The Saskatchewan Roughriders quickly put the rumour mill to bed with a timely news conference a day before the team gets back to practice to prepare for the CFL’s West Division final.

The rumour mill was starting to hum around the CFL about Loucheiz Purifoy getting arrested while celebrating the West semifinal win over Calgary on Sunday night.

So instead of having that rumour fester and media digging around and then making it become a distraction, kudos to Purifoy, head coach Craig Dickenson and the team for coming out on Tuesday to explain the story.

Internal discipline will be administered for violating the team’s code of conduct policy, and my sources say the league will let the Riders handle it as they don’t feel any need to step in.

While Dickenson says they weren’t sure if Purifoy would play in the West final yet, I’d be shocked if he wasn’t on the field. And quite frankly, I don’t see a reason for a team suspension as a night in the drunk tank and a public apology should be humbling enough for a player who isn’t facing any criminal charges.