Notebook: Roughriders are ready to see a familiar face

The Saskatchewan Roughriders will be dealing with Doubles vision on Thursday.

The Roughriders are to face one of their former quarterbacks — Darian Durant, whose nickname is Doubles — when they face the Montreal Alouettes at Percival Molson Stadium. Durant was traded to the Als in January after spending the first 11 seasons of his CFL career in Saskatchewan.

“Ever since I’ve been in the league, Darian has always been in green,” veteran guard Brendon LaBatte said Tuesday when asked about seeing Durant in a different-coloured uniform. “It’ll be a little bit of an adjustment.

“But me personally, I don’t even look at the other team’s offence so I won’t be seeing too, too much of him.”

Roughriders veterans have seen a lot from Durant over the years, including how he handles certain situations. LaBatte is one of those who knows what motivates his former quarterback and how Durant reacts to things.

“I imagine he’ll come out the same as he always would,” LaBatte said. “If he makes a play or two, that could be where he maybe celebrates a little bit more.

“But I wouldn’t expect anything (emotional) out of Darian. He’s a professional, he knows how the game goes and he knows the business side of things too.”

Durant was traded after contract negotiations with Chris Jones — the Roughriders’ vice-president of football operations, general manager and head coach — broke down.

Asked by reporters in Montreal about his mindset entering Thursday’s game, Durant downplayed the situation.

“The closure has already happened for me, to be honest,” he said. “Once I put on my first Alouette jersey, it was over. I don’t want to turn this into anything more than what it is. It’s just a game against my former organization.”

Jones also isn’t thinking about anything other than opening the regular season with a solid outing. The 2017 Roughriders have been together for three weeks of training camp — and the Durant situation is in the past.

“We’ve not mentioned him one time in our meetings,” Jones said. “He’s a pro and we’re pros. There’s no storyline in our room other than we’re playing a really good football team.

“You saw last week (in Montreal’s 38-5 pre-season victory over the Ottawa Redblacks on June 15) how much he has helped their football team from last year, so we’ve got to execute as a pro football team.”

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Jones knows a thing or two about Durant, having coached against him for years and with him for one season.

Many of Saskatchewan’s defenders also are familiar with the veteran QB, having faced him every day in practice during his tenure in Saskatchewan.

But the reverse holds true as well. Durant knows Jones’ schemes and he knows the abilities of most of the Roughriders’ defensive players.

“Darian’s a pro and I’m sure that he has looked at himself really hard — as we have — to see what tendencies we may or may not have,” Jones said. “We’ve gone against each other both when I was here and when I wasn’t here, so it’s not like there are any secrets.”

“We know the kind of throws he likes to throw, so we’ll do our best to make his life really difficult,” added linebacker Henoc Muamba. “We’re excited for the challenge.”

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The Roughriders will be without two veterans Thursday.

Receiver Rob Bagg isn’t ready to play yet after suffering a sprained ankle during training camp. Nic Demski will fill in for Bagg.

Returner Chad Owens also isn’t fit to play — and Jones said Owens will be out for “an extended period of time” due to a nagging foot injury he suffered while playing for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2016.

Owens appeared briefly at Saskatchewan’s training camp before being shut down. He reportedly will be put on the Roughriders’ six-game injured list.

“The X-ray showed that it was about 98 per cent (healed), but when he went out the other day, he felt a little bit of a twinge on it,” Jones said. “We just don’t want to do any further damage.

“He’s got one more roll at this thing, so we want to make sure when we do put him out there that he’s 100 (per cent).”

Demski and Ricky Collins Jr., are among the candidates to handle the Roughriders’ returns in Owens’ absence.

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EXTRAS: While Bagg and Owens aren’t ready to return to the lineup, LaBatte will be back after missing time with an ankle injury. Asked Tuesday how close to 100 per cent he is, LaBatte replied: “I don’t know. I’m good to play. That’s the only per cent we need to know.” … The Roughriders currently have three quarterbacks under contract — Kevin Glenn, Brandon Bridge and Marquise Williams — but Jones said there aren’t any plans to bring in another pivot. That includes Drew Willy, who recently was released by the Toronto Argonauts … The Roughriders cut two players Tuesday in national receiver Joshua Stanford and international linebacker Myke Tavarres.