Riders ready for game action as training camp rolls on

The grind continues for the Saskatchewan Roughriders as they continue to gear up for the 2022 CFL season that begins in a matter of weeks.

The team got out to a delayed start, just like everyone else in the league, after labour talks delayed the opening of camp.

Head coach, Craig Dickenson, says the team isn’t using that as an excuse as Monday would’ve been the first preseason game before it was pushed to May 31.

“I think we could’ve played today, to be honest with you, I wish we would have,” Dickenson said on Monday after practice that he’s been satisfied with the overall performance of his players.

“Guys are tired right now, that’s what we want. They’re getting a little irritated with coaches, which is also what we want. And they’re competing hard, so I would say we’re very happy with where we’re at.”

Overall he’s been happy with how his team has adjusted to all of the challenges thrown at them through the first few days at camp.

Every team in the CFL is also working to adapt to the new rule changes brought in by the league during the offseason.

One of the biggest conversation topics has been moving the centre hash marks closer together and Dickenson says they’ve been learning on the fly.

“I think we’re going to continue to see adjustments throughout the first half of the season with routes and landmarks for players. We feel like moving the hash marks in is going to open the game up a little bit and from what I’ve seen so far it appears that it has,” Dickenson said without revealing how his playbook would open.

Through every training camp, a team tries to get into the season without any injuries and the Riders hoped to do that in 2022.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case as offensive lineman Josiah St. John went down on Sunday and could be out for an extended period.

The silver lining though is that it doesn’t seem to be as bad as first thought.

When St. John went down the team thought he could’ve been out for the season, but the good news is he may be out 4-6 weeks with what looks like an MCL sprain in his right knee according to Dickenson.

The Riders will continue to prepare for the Green and White game on Saturday in Saskatoon before opening its first preseason game in Regina on May 31 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.