June 21, 2017

Notebook: Chris Jones will be thinking about The Don

MONTREAL — Chris Jones’ mind may be somewhere else — albeit briefly — when Thursday’s game between his Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Montreal Alouettes begins.

The regular-season opener will be the first contest for Jones in Montreal since the death of legendary CFL coach Don Matthews, who gave Jones his first job in the league.

Matthews (a.k.a. The Don) died June 14 at the age of 77.

“It’s a football game, just like every week,” Jones — now the Roughriders’ head coach, general manager and vice-president of football operations — said when asked if Matthews would be on his mind at game time. “I’ll have a little thought for Don when the kickoff happens.”

Matthews started his CFL coaching career as an assistant with the Edmonton Eskimos in 1977. His first head-coaching job was with the B.C. Lions in 1983.

He spent 2 ½ seasons (1991-93) as the Roughriders’ head coach before resigning to take over Baltimore’s expansion CFL franchise in 1994. He completed his career having won five Grey Cups as a head coach and five as an assistant.

In 2002, when Matthews was the Alouettes’ head coach, he hired Jones to be the team’s defensive line coach. The two men were co-workers until Matthews stepped down as Montreal’s head coach in 2006.

Jones considers Matthews to be his mentor, so Jones dealt with some emotions when he returned to Montreal on Tuesday.

“We sent flowers to his wife and I texted back and forth with her yesterday, so it was a little bit weird flying in here,” he said.

“Don meant a lot to me. He gave me an opportunity as a young coach to do what I do and to realize my dream, so I do owe him a lot. It was a little bit sentimental landing yesterday.”

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Jovon Johnson also has been dealing with some emotions since returning to Montreal.

The 33-year-old defensive back was released by the Alouettes on Saturday and signed by the Roughriders on Monday. He has been activated off Saskatchewan’s practice roster and will start at cornerback Thursday — against his previous employer.

“It’s fun for me,” Johnson said Wednesday. “Just a couple of days ago, I was here wearing different colours, but now that I’m on the other side, I’m excited.

“I love the opportunity to be able to compete against a team that I once played for and hopefully I can make the most of my opportunity.”

Johnson obviously wasn’t pleased that he had been released by the Als, with whom he spent the 2016 season. But he said all the right things on Wednesday, noting that he had to live with Montreal’s decision and has moved on.

On Monday in Regina, the veteran DB admitted he would be talking with the Roughriders’ offensive coaches to tell them what Montreal likes to do defensively. He also planned to chat with Saskatchewan’s defenders to give them the lowdown on the Als’ receivers.

Asked Wednesday if there had in fact been a debriefing session, Johnson played coy.

“That’s not important,” he said. “At the end of the day, I know what (the Als) do. Any way that I can help my team win, that’s all that matters.”

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Much has been made about the fact that quarterback Darian Durant will be playing the Roughriders for the first time since they traded him to Montreal.

Well, his opposite number — Saskatchewan quarterback Kevin Glenn — also is to face his former team for the first time since it traded him. The Als shipped Glenn to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 11 for a fourth-round pick in the 2018 CFL draft.

“It’s business,” Glenn said Wednesday. “That’s sometimes the way things happen and you’ve got to move on.

“That’s just the nature of this sport. I won’t be the last person to go through something like that. There probably have been guys who have been through it since (his trade) actually happened.”

One of those players is Durant, who was dealt to Montreal in January for a fourth-round selection in the 2017 draft and a conditional second-round pick in the 2018 lottery.

The Roughriders used that fourth-round pick in the May 7 draft on offensive lineman Eddie Meredith, who’s on the practice roster for Thursday’s game.

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As expected, the Roughriders have put receiver-returner Chad Owens on the six-game injured list.

The 35-year-old veteran, who was signed as a free agent in the off-season, participated sparingly in Saskatchewan’s training camp in Saskatoon. He played in the Roughriders’ mock game June 3, but didn’t take the field again due to a lingering foot injury.

Joining Owens on Saskatchewan’s six-game list was defensive back Tevaughn Campbell, who injured a hamstring during camp.

Offensive lineman Ryan White was put on the disabled list, while linebackers Sam Eguavoen and Derrick Moncrief, receiver Rob Bagg, offensive lineman Dillon Guy, tailback Kienan LaFrance, defensive end Jonathan Newsome and punter-kicker Quinn van Gylswyk were placed on the one-game injured list.