Notebook: Players pay the price for penalties

SASKATOON — The Saskatchewan Roughriders had an up-and-down day Tuesday.

Every time someone committed a pre-snap act that would have resulted in a penalty — whether on offence, defence or special teams — their group had to do up-downs. The players had to drop to their stomachs, get back up and repeat the process.

“We had to come up with something that gave them some immediate feedback when they line up in the neutral zone or jump offside or we take too long in the huddle,” head coach-GM Chris Jones said after the CFL team’s training-camp workout at Griffiths Stadium on the University of Saskatchewan campus.

“There has got to be some kind of negative feedback. You don’t want to fatigue their legs, but you’ve got to do something, so we’ve come up with that idea. We used it a couple of years ago in Edmonton (while coaching the Eskimos).”

The coaching staff settled on the punishment in the wake of Sunday’s 35-12 pre-season loss to the host Eskimos.

Saskatchewan took 12 penalties for 98 yards in the contest, including five infractions for 38 yards on Edmonton’s first offensive possession of the game. The penalties prolonged the Eskimos’ drive, which ended in a touchdown.

The Roughriders were flagged six times in the game for being offside, twice for holding, once for illegal contact on a receiver, once for a facemask, once for roughing the passer and once for an illegal block.

They also had to call a timeout before being assessed a time-count violation and narrowly averted that call on a couple of other occasions.

“Once we watched the film, it was the same thing: Penalties and turnovers were the difference in the game,” said Jones, whose team committed five giveaways (two interceptions, two turnovers on downs and one fumble).

“I was proud of our effort — I thought we played hard — but discipline is certainly something that we’ve got to address and we started today.”

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Another form of discipline was meted out Tuesday.

During a drill late in the practice, defensive back Rudy Johnson blitzed — and hit the throwing arm of Zach Collaros while the quarterback was winding up to uncork a pass.

Collaros wasn’t injured on the play, but Johnson was immediately sent to the locker room by Jones.

“You can’t do that,” the head coach said. “It’s professional football. It’s inexcusable. I’ve got to coach it better and we’ve got to go out and execute that part of our practice better.”

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The practice Tuesday was the Roughriders’ first since Sunday’s game, and their first since releasing quarterback Marquise Williams on Monday.

The second-year Roughrider struggled in Edmonton, completing three of seven pass attempts for 32 yards with an interception and generating just 54 net yards of offence in 18 plays.

His departure leaves Saskatchewan with four quarterbacks: Collaros, Brandon Bridge, David Watford and B.J. Daniels.

“We can’t play everybody,” Jones said when asked about releasing Williams. “It was not only a game evaluation but a camp evaluation.”

Watford, Williams and Daniels all ran the offence Sunday and failed to put the ball in the end zone. On Tuesday, Jones said that the QBs had to do a better job of setting their feet and throwing the ball, not throwing into coverage and getting the offence to the line of scrimmage in a timely fashion.

“We’ve got work to do with those young quarterbacks,” Jones said. “But if it was easy, everybody would be doing it.”

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The Roughriders welcomed three veterans to camp Tuesday.

Kicker Tyler Crapigna, long-snapper Jorgen Hus and fullback Spencer Moore — all of whom missed the first week of training camp — were activated. Crapigna and Moore had been on the veteran injured list, while Hus had been on the suspended list.

Tyler Crapigna

“It was a long time coming,” Crapigna said. “It feels good. It’s the same guys I’ve been working with in Hus and (holder Josh) Bartel, so it’s like clockwork and we’re continuing on from last year.”

Crapigna was sidelined for what he called “preventative” reasons, with the hope that he’d be ready to go for the regular season. The fact that he was activated for Tuesday’s practice suggested he’s healthy enough to kick in camp.

Brett Lauther has handled the placements in Crapigna’s absence, including during Sunday’s game. Lauther went 4-for-4 on field-goal tries against the Eskimos, including a 55-yarder.

“He had a good game, there’s no doubts about that,” Crapigna said. “But my focus has always been on myself. It’s not the first time that we’ve had another kicker in camp. The focus is all on myself.”

In the previous two seasons, Crapigna competed against the since-departed Quinn van Gylswyk in camp and during the regular season. Crapigna was up to the challenge both times and he’s hoping to do the same in 2018.

“(Having a second kicker in camp) keeps you sharp and keeps you accountable,” Crapigna said. “But kicking is a job where you focus on how you perform. That’s what I continue to stress to myself all the time and that’s the way I approach it.”