Assiniboia welcomes Weyburn Red Wings with open arms during ammonia shutdown
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Billets were found for all Red Wings players in just four hours.
Linebacker Larry Dean believes the Saskatchewan Roughriders have the talent in the locker room to get the team out of its recent slump.
The Riders, who have lost their past five CFL games, head out on the road to face the Calgary Stampeders on Friday at McMahon Stadium. Kickoff for the game is set for 7:30 p.m.
“This is a good group. A lot of guys come from really nothing, so to be down and out, it isn’t unfamiliar territory,” the 35-year-old Dean said.
“The energy hasn’t been bad. We’ve all been pretty much the underdogs, so we understand that role a lot. We just have to tap into it, but the energy has been good.”
Saskatchewan Roughriders running back Jamal Morrow had 133 yards the last time the team visited McMahon Stadium. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Dean, who has 563 career defensive tackles in the CFL, has been one of the few bright spots for a Riders’ defence that has struggled over the recent five-game skid.
The unit has given up 38.8 points per game and 499.4 yards of net offence per game.
Dean admitted there’s no easy answer to how the group can get its swagger back.
“If there was a blueprint to that, there would be some rich people. At the end of the day, we just have to keep plugging away,” Dean said.
“We haven’t really lost it; we’re still the same people. At the end of the day, we have to go out and prove it.”
With the team struggling recently, veteran players as well as general manager Jeremy O’Day spoke to the locker room about how to approach this week.
“We just have to play and weather the storm,” Dean said. “As a veteran, a leader, a guy who has been around a lot of football, it is never as good or as bad as you think it is.”
The 6-10 Riders still remain in control of their own playoff destiny. A win over the 4-11 Stamps would give Saskatchewan the tie-breaker over their West-Division rival and clinch a playoff spot. A sixth-straight loss would shift the power over to Calgary, who could then qualify for playoffs by winning out.
Dean said that fact gives the players some extra motivation.
“No matter how bad we feel or think the situation or outcome has been for us, at the end of the day we still have the next opportunity to go out and put our best foot forward and still come out on top and be where we ideally want to be – in the dance,” Dean said.
The seven-season CFL veteran has 98 tackles this season – second-most in the CFL. If he crosses the century mark in the category, it would be the third time he has reached 100 defensive tackles in a season.
But Dean isn’t focused on the individual accomplishments.
“It would be a lot better with a W,” he said simply.
Notes: The team announced it has released American defensive back William Poole III and American wide receiver Kendall Watson. Poole III made his CFL debut last week in a 38-13 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Watson appeared in four games for the Riders, hauling in 17 catches for 154 yards.