Fajardo to start at quarterback for Riders in rematch with Lions

Cody Fajardo will be the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ starting quarterback in Friday’s rematch with the B.C. Lions.

“Cody is our starter this week,” Saskatchewan head coach Craig Dickenson said Monday as his CFL team began preparations for the game in Vancouver.

Kickoff for the game is 8:30 p.m. The Green Zone pre-game show begins at 6:30 p.m.

“We made that decision right away and we’re going to do everything we can to play better around him,” Dickenson continued.

“We feel like we can play better across the board, so he’s going to be our starter, we’ve got great confidence in him and we’re going to do everything around him to make sure he has good games moving forward and he plays winning football.”

Fajardo, who has been dealing with an injured medial collateral ligament in his left knee since Week 2, has struggled this season.

He has thrown for 1,827 yards in nine games, with 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions. The usually mobile quarterback has rushed for only 157 yards and five touchdowns.

Part of the reason for his play has been the pass protection. The Riders have given up a CFL-high 37 sacks — 32 of them on Fajardo, three on Mason Fine and two on Jake Dolegala.

In Friday’s 28-10 loss to the Lions, Fajardo was pulled before halftime after completing eight of 13 passes for 41 yards and two interceptions. Fine came off the bench and was 16-for-26 passing for 210 yards with a TD and a pick.

“(My) confidence isn’t great right now and then you get pulled in a game — I expressed my frustration, but it’s Dickenson’s decision to make. I feel like I’ve been playing my best ball in the second half (of games),” Fajardo said.

“It was difficult. It was difficult to push through a lot throughout the year and then you finally start feeling better and then you get pulled, so it wasn’t an easy thing to deal with. But I’m a team player and whatever the coach needs, that’s why he makes the big bucks — he makes those decisions.”

Fajardo said his health wasn’t a reason for the early benching.

“Absolutely not,” Fajardo said.

Dickenson admitted he can tell Fajardo’s confidence has taken a hit this season.

“He starts looking down quickly and looking to get out (of the pocket). That usually tells me he’s not confident in the protection or he’s not seeing coverage like we want,” Dickenson said.

“We’re going to work hard with the O-line to do a better job of protecting him and then try to push Cody to trust the protection, keep his eyes downfield and keep his feet still.”

Fajardo said he and Dickenson had a good conversation about the decision to go with the 30-year-old QB once again.

“He talked about how he was going to let me go in and have a longer leash,” Fajardo said. “I told him the most difficult thing about a quarterback is if you’re playing scared or playing afraid of making a mistake.

“I told him just to make a decision and if it’s Mason Fine, I’ll be the best backup that this team can have, and if it’s me, I’m ready to win some football games and get this team in a position to make the playoffs. I’m glad he gave me the nod of confidence and I just want to do what I can to help this team succeed in all the right ways.”