Photo Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards
Chris Jones has accepted the CFL’s verdict.
On April 28, the league fined the Saskatchewan Roughriders $31,500 for two bylaw violations and also fined Jones — Saskatchewan’s head coach, general manager and vice-president of football operations — $5,000 for meeting with the publicist of quarterback Johnny Manziel.
The CFL determined that meeting constituted tampering, since Manziel is on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ negotiation list.
On Friday, Jones addressed the fines in person for the first time since they were levied.
“It’s one of those deals where the CFL’s got their rules and unfortunately we ended up on the wrong side of them,” he told reporters during a media conference at Mosaic Stadium. “We accept where we are and we’re going to move forward.
“That’s basically it. I’m not going to sit here and bash the CFL. They’ve got a job to do. They deemed what we did was illegal, we paid the price for it and we’re going to move forward.”
The violations — having a suspended player at practice and illegally recruiting a junior player — occurred during the 2016 CFL season.
Jones stressed that the Roughriders will toe the line in the future.
“Some rules are governed black and white; some of them are grey and they always have been grey,” Jones said. “I know that ours are black and white now.
“There’s not going to be any leeway. There’s not going to be any thinking that we’re judged the same as everyone else. We’re going to be judged at the highest level and that’s what we’re going to hold ourselves to.”
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Quarterback Jake Heaps signed a contract with the Roughriders to attend their mini-camp April 24-27 in Vero Beach, Fla.
Then, shortly after the camp, Heaps tweeted that he had signed with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.
On Friday, Jones addressed the quarterback’s situation.
“Basically, it was kind of an agreement prior to coming (to mini-camp),” Jones said. “He’s got abilities other people may be interested in down south.
“We wanted certainly to look at every option to see exactly who he was as a quarterback. We saw where he ranked after our mini-camp. He got an opportunity, so we let him go.”
Defensive back Zavian Bingham was a star at the Roughriders’ mini-camp, but the rookie tweeted after the camp that he had signed a deal with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.
Jones said the Ravens’ interest in Bingham was “short-lived,” so the defensive back will be with the Roughriders for training camp.
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That training camp will be held in Saskatoon for the fifth straight year.
The Roughriders officially announced Friday that they’ll be heading to the Bridge City for camp. It’s to open May 28 at Griffiths Stadium on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan.
Events in Saskatoon will include Rider Fan Day at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex on June 3. That event will feature an evening practice and mock game.
The Roughriders will be based in Saskatoon until June 16.
Jones said he likes the U of S facilities, which allow for some team-bonding when the team is housed in the dorms. Staging camp in Saskatoon instead of at Mosaic Stadium also could heighten the players’ interest in their new home.
“You can kind of get away from where you’re normally at …,” Jones said. “If you’re somewhere else (before) you come here, there’s a little newness to it once you start the season.”
