in Regina,Friday,October 27,2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ quarterback carousel was spinning Friday — and Chris Jones was pushing it with everything he had.
Saskatchewan ran 68 offensive plays (not counting punts or field-goal tries) during its 37-12 CFL victory over the Montreal Alouettes at Mosaic Stadium and all three of the Roughriders’ quarterbacks saw action.
Kevin Glenn was in for 27 plays, Brandon Bridge ran the offence 24 times and Vernon Adams Jr., got 17 plays. Glenn played most of the first and third quarters (Adams ran one play on two drives that Glenn started), Bridge saw duty in the second quarter and part of the fourth, and Adams was at the helm for the final two drives of the game.
Jones — Saskatchewan’s head coach and general manager — said after the contest that he wanted to use all of his quarterbacks in hopes of building depth for the playoffs and for the future. But he didn’t share that plan with the pivots before the game.
“You’ve got to be ready for whatever,” Jones explained. “You never know when your opportunities are going to come and just about the time you think you’ve got things figured out, you don’t — and that’s as a coach or a player.
“I just had it in my mind how I was going to do it (Friday) and that’s what we did.”
Glenn had been pulled from two of the Roughriders’ previous three games and three of their previous five. He helped Saskatchewan build a 14-0 first-quarter lead Friday but was replaced by Bridge to begin the Roughriders’ first possession of the second quarter.
“When you go up 14-0 and (Jones) does that, at this point in the year, I’ve been around long enough to kind of decipher things,” Glenn said when asked if he was thinking the worst. “That’s what I thought, but he never said anything …
“But as players, you go with what the coach calls. He makes that decision, so that’s what you’ve got to go with as a player.”
While Glenn was at the controls, the Roughriders recorded three converted touchdowns and one field goal. Adams led the offence to one converted TD and Bridge helped Saskatchewan put up two field goals.
Glenn completed seven of 14 pass attempts for 104 yards with two touchdowns, Bridge was 10-for-15 for 124 yards with an interception and also rushed once for 17 yards, and Adams carried twice for 14 yards.
Jones was adamant that the Roughriders have stability at the position — because Glenn will remain the No. 1 quarterback. In Jones’ mind, Glenn’s team-first mentality is the reason why the Roughriders have had success this season.
“Kevin Glenn’s our starter,” Jones said while discussing the plan for the future. “It’s a pretty simple process. Then we just go from there. We’ve got three good quarterbacks and I’m confident in all three of them running different packages.”
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Bridge would have had a touchdown pass if Bakari Grant hadn’t had a lapse in judgment.
Late in the second quarter, Bridge hit Grant with a pass at the Montreal nine-yard line. The slotback eluded a tackle and appeared destined for the end zone, but he started celebrating before crossing the goal line.
That allowed Als cornerback Tevaughn Campbell to strip Grant of the football and Montreal recovered at the one-yard line.
Grant wasn’t available in the Roughriders’ locker room after the game, but he did take to Twitter later to offer a mea culpa.
“Gotta apologize to my teammates and #ridernation for that silly selfish play smh I will be better for our team!” Grant tweeted.
Glenn agreed with Grant’s assessment.
“If you go ask him, he’ll tell you, ‘That was a silly, stupid mistake that I made. I thought I was over the goal line and was celebrating before I actually was in,’ ” Glenn said. “We were kidding around and telling him, ‘You need to run to the middle of the end zone next time before you even start to celebrate.’
“Guys got on him on the sideline. That’s something right there. He has been in the league long enough to know not to do it. But he did it and there was no need for us to keep browbeating him with it.”
Grant had two catches for 26 yards, leaving him five yards shy of the 1,000-yard mark for the season.
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Chad Owens is 2-for-2.
The slotback has played two games for Saskatchewan this season and has led the team in catches and receiving yards in both.
On Oct. 20, Owens had five catches for 78 yards in a 30-7 victory over the host Calgary Stampeders. On Friday, he had nine receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown.
The 35-year-old was on Saskatchewan’s injured list for its first 14 regular-season games this season. He was on the 46-man roster for the Roughriders’ 15th game, but was scratched.
Since replacing the injured Naaman Roosevelt in the starting lineup, Owens has given his team a jolt of enthusiasm that is evident.
“If you’re not having fun out there, why are you doing it?” said Owens, who also rushed three times for 22 yards Friday. “Yeah, it’s a business for us, we get paid, but at the end of the day, it’s a game and we’ve got to have fun.
“When you’re having fun, things tend to go a little smoother and your overall feeling is that much better. The missed assignments or the dropped passes don’t seem to bug you as much if you’re having fun. That’s what I’ve been trying to do lately.”
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Roughriders defensive back Crezdon Butler had some fun Friday.
Butler had five tackles, a forced fumble and two sacks against the Als. The quarterback takedowns were the first of his eight-year pro football career.
“I might need to put my hand in the dirt,” Butler said with a smile. “Coach Jones called those plays at a great time. Teams don’t see me blitzing a lot, so it was a good call.”
The Roughriders blitzed DBs throughout the contest, with Butler, cornerbacks Duron Carter and Kacy Rodgers II and safeties Mike Edem and Jeff Hecht looking to get to Montreal’s quarterbacks. Butler got home twice.
“It’s to get (the blitz) on film, for the most part,” he said. “You don’t want an offence to get comfortable and say, ‘Oh, they’re going to be in this coverage in second-and-long.’ You’ve got to throw something in there to make them prepare for it.”
