Liam Richards/Electric Umbrella
Green was the colour for Duron Carter on Wednesday.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ leading receiver this season was sporting the green jersey of a defensive player when the CFL team took the field at Mosaic Stadium for practice Wednesday.
Then, for much of the workout, Carter practised at cornerback with the starting defence. After practice, Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones confirmed that Carter will play both offence and defence Friday when Saskatchewan visits the Calgary Stampeders.
“He is going to be playing a lot of football,” Jones said. “He is going to be a tired young man after this football game. That’s all it is. That’s where he’s going to play. You’re going to see him out there a bunch.
“Will he play every snap on offence? No. Will he play every defensive snap? No. But he’s going to play a lot of football.”
Starting corner Kacy Rodgers II missed Saskatchewan’s game Friday against the Ottawa Redblacks with a leg injury and he isn’t available for the contest in Calgary.
Chris Lyles, who played in place of Rodgers versus Ottawa, is out with a shoulder injury. Another potential replacement, Sam Williams, has the flu. And another possibility, Melvin White, hasn’t been in town long enough.
So the Roughriders will use Carter, who has taken snaps at cornerback during games this season after others were injured.
“He’s very instinctual and, quite honestly, I’m not sure he’s not a better corner than he is a receiver,” said Jones, whose squad also had national Elie Bouka taking reps at corner during Wednesday’s practice.
Carter has never started a game at cornerback at any level of football, but he recommended himself to Jones earlier this season. Imagine Carter’s surprise when the coach took him up on his offer.
“It kind of started as a joke, telling Coach Jones, ‘I can get out there,’ ” Carter said. “He sort of put me to the test. I got out there in practice and he sort of liked what he saw.
“I’ve been working with him, coming in early, meeting with Coach (Jason) Shivers and getting the defence down so I can be productive.”
Carter leads the Roughriders in receiving yards this season (1,037), he’s tied with Naaman Roosevelt for the team lead in touchdown catches (eight) and he’s third on the squad in receptions (72). Even so, the coaching staff feels the team will benefit more from having Carter play some defence rather than concentrating solely on offence.
Quarterback Kevin Glenn agreed with the strategy.
“He’ll have opportunities on both sides of the ball to be successful,” Glenn said. “A guy with that type of talent, you want him full-time (on offence), but the biggest thing is — and the most important thing is — what does the team need?”
There was some thought that the move was made to punish Carter for his role in an altercation during Monday’s practice. He dismissed that notion, saying that he had met with Jones about playing corner prior to that workout.
“I don’t think anybody has ever been punished on offence and then got moved to defence,” Carter added. “If it is that case, I’d be the first.
“I’m just going out and doing the best I possibly can for us to win.”
Stampeders quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell was intrigued with the news of Carter’s move to the corner.
“Don’t do it Duron.. you’ll get 25 balls thrown at you,” Mitchell tweeted.
“Yeah whatever!” Carter replied. “You don’t have anyone that can catch better than me!!! I hope you got on your chasing cleats!!!”
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Roughriders receiver Rob Bagg was in a reflective mood Wednesday.
Bagg hails from Kingston, Ont., the same city that produced The Tragically Hip. The band was in the news Wednesday after lead singer Gord Downie succumbed to brain cancer at age 53.
“I saw them play in Kingston at least two times that I can recall,” Bagg told reporters. “It was always a good time. Whether Gord was in his 20s or his 50s, he just went up there and ripped it. There was always a lot of energy and he was just a great performer.”
Bagg said the band was one of the favourites of his father, so Rob knows many of the songs because his dad played them. They resonated with the younger Bagg as well.
“What also draws a lot of people to The Tragically Hip’s music is every song relates to something,” he said. “There’s always a little underlying message, whether he’s talking about the prisons or he’s talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs and how long they haven’t won the (Stanley) Cup.
“To me, the music was great, but it was always like every song had a little bit of a story behind it. That’s what I remember from the band. Definitely, my dad and my uncle will be taking the news a little bit harder.”
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The CFL has released the list of players who are eligible for the award as the most outstanding rookie this season.
The Roughriders who can be considered in balloting by members of the Football Reporters of Canada are: Defensive backs Bouka, Lyles and Williams; offensive linemen Emmanuel Adusei and Dariusz Bladek; defensive linemen Tobi Antigha, Nick James and Antonio Longino; receivers Albert Awachie, Antwane Grant and Denzel Radford; linebackers Brandyn Bartlett, Erick Dargan, Cameron Judge and Derrick Moncrief; running back/returner Christion Jones; and, quarterback Marquise Williams.
To be eligible for the award, a player must have been on the 44-man roster of a CFL team for a regular-season game. He also can’t have dressed for a CFL or NFL team for a regular-season, playoff or championship game in a previous season.
