May 31, 2018

Notebook: Two defensive tackles cross the line

SASKATOON — Eddie Steele stood out like a sore thumb again Thursday.

During a training-camp session at Griffiths Stadium, Steele was the only man sporting the green jersey of a Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive player while surrounded by 11 white jerseys worn by members of the CFL team’s offence.

Such is life when a defensive tackle gets used as a guard with the second-team offence.

“We just need some bodies,” Steele explained after the workout at the University of Saskatchewan. “Guys are banged up and, to get through our style of practice, you need some bodies on both sides of the ball. Yesterday, I was going both ways, offence and defence, for the whole practice. You’ve just got to do whatever you can to help out.

“I’m the seventh O-lineman, so if there’s an emergency in a game, I’ve got to be ready to go and I’ve got to be sharp with my skills in case that situation does happen.”

Steele has played on the offensive line before during his seven-year CFL career. As a member of the Edmonton Eskimos, he actually started a couple of games at guard.

With Dariusz Bladek sidelined on Wednesday and again on Thursday, Steele took snaps at right guard with the offensive backups — and he wasn’t the only one. Defensive tackle Zack Evans also got some reps on the offensive line to prepare him for emergency situations.

Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones coached Steele for two seasons in Edmonton and feels the 29-year-old product of Winnipeg is up to the task.

“If he made a position change like Duron (Carter, a wide receiver who’s also playing cornerback), he could be a very, very good offensive lineman,” Jones said of Steele. “He’s a defensive lineman — and if you ask him, he’ll say he’s a defensive lineman — but he can go in and you don’t miss a beat there with him at guard.”

Steele, meanwhile, has become accustomed to moving across the line of scrimmage when asked to do so.

“It’s a little weird, but I’ve done it in the past working with Chris Jones,” Steele said. “In Edmonton, I would go A group hurry-up offence with the defence and B group hurry-up offence with the offence. I’m used to it.”

•••

Two of the Roughriders’ Canadian offensive linemen were briefly on the field Thursday before departing.

One was Bladek, who headed into the locker room with an undisclosed injury before practice formally started. The other was tackle Josiah St. John, who left after appearing to aggravate the hamstring injury that forced him to miss the first week and a half of camp.

Linebackers Brandyn Bartlett, Kevin Francis and Micah Teitz, defensive backs Jeremy Cutrer, Tristan Doughlin and Denzel Radford, defensive lineman Makana Henry and receiver Devon Bailey all missed Thursday’s practice due to injury.

Linebacker Cameron Judge, who didn’t participate in Wednesday’s workout, took part in Thursday’s session.

•••

Defensive tackle Rakim Cox is happy to be back on the field after his back kept him off the field.

“Right before practice the very first day, I bent over to grab my cleat out of my locker and it just flared up instantly,” Cox said of his back. “I was like, ‘Aww.’ I already knew what had happened.

“I actually drove from San Diego here, so I was in a car for 27 hours — and that probably had something to do with my back stiffening up.”

Cox missed the first week of camp due to the injury. He has overcome back issues in the past, so that reassured him that he could return to the field quickly.

“It was really frustrating, but then I was like, ‘I can’t get too mad. It happened. I’ve got to get over it and get back out there,’ ” Cox said. “With me out, that was putting a lot more wear and tear on the other tackles.

“I was excited (about camp). It’s my first training camp with them, so I wanted to show the coaches that I had gone home and worked hard — and then I hurt my back on the first day.”

Cox joined the Roughriders in September of 2017 and solidified a defensive tackle spot that had seen a lot of turnover during the season. He had four tackles in five regular-season games.

“Before I signed last year, I was out of football for almost a year,” said the former Carolina Panther. “When they gave me the opportunity, it felt good to be back in that atmosphere and that environment.

“I came in late, so I had a hard time learning every play. Now I’m starting from Day 1 with the team, so they can watch me grow and flourish and I can build on last year.”

•••

The Roughriders are staging Green and White Day on Saturday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

On Thursday, Jones said the on-field portion of the day will be used as something of a tuneup.

“We’ve already played one pre-season game (Sunday in Edmonton) so it’s a little bit backwards this year,” said Jones, whose team usually holds Green and White Day before playing an exhibition game.

“We got 130 plays in (during practice) yesterday, 130 plays the day before and we’re looking to get somewhere between 90 and 100 reps tomorrow. (Green and White Day) will be more so a dress rehearsal type of thing to go into the second pre-season game.”

Saskatchewan entertains the Calgary Stampeders on June 8 to complete its pre-season schedule.