Notebook: The QB competition will continue Friday

Zach Collaros and Brandon Bridge didn’t play in the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ first pre-season game.

They’ll make up for that Friday.

Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones said Thursday that those two quarterbacks will split a CFL pre-season contest against the Calgary Stampeders at Mosaic Stadium (7:30 p.m., CKRM). Collaros will start and play the first and third quarters and Bridge will play the second and fourth quarters.

David Watford and B.J. Daniels, each of whom got playing time in Saskatchewan’s 35-12 loss to the host Edmonton Eskimos on May 27, aren’t slated to play Friday.

“I evaluated (Watford and Daniels) last week,” Jones said. “(Collaros and Bridge) didn’t (play in Edmonton), so we’re going to go with the first- and second-group guy.”

Who is No. 1 and who is No. 2 remains up in the air, according to Jones. Collaros and Bridge are still competing for the starting job and Friday’s game could help determine the final pecking order.

When the Roughriders acquired Collaros from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Jan. 3, many expected he would be handed the No. 1 job. Jones has said numerous times since the trade that Bridge would still have a chance to win the job — and Jones has given him that opportunity during training camp.

The quarterbacks took turns with the starting offence in Saskatoon, giving Bridge hope that he’ll ascend to the No. 1 position.

“I want to get the opportunity,” said Bridge, who relieved Kevin Glenn throughout the 2017 regular season and in the Eastern Final. “I felt that I really showed last year that I should come in and get to be the guy.

“But that’s above my pay grade. I’m just going to go out there (Friday) and execute and put my best foot forward.”

Collaros noted that he hasn’t paid attention to the competition with his fellow quarterbacks in camp, preferring to focus only on his own performance.

Asked if he felt he had to prove anything Friday, Collaros replied: “I think I need to prove to the coaches and to my teammates that I’m going to do what they ask me to do and do it well.”

Collaros admitted it was tough not to play against Edmonton, so he’s ready to suit up against Calgary — even though it’s a pre-season contest.

“You’ve got to put stock in everything, practices as well,” he said. “We didn’t just practise for 18 days for one pre-season game and have (Jones) say, ‘OK, we’re basing it all off this.’ You have a lot of repetitions in practice, and we’re going against our 1’s (on defence) every day, so that’s pretty much a game-like atmosphere every single day.

“I put stock in every rep, whether it’s in individual, whether it’s in 7-on-7, routes versus air — all of those things. I think it’s all important and those little things add up over time.”

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Training camp gave Collaros his first experience in Jones’ high-tempo practices, which feature the first- and second-team offences facing their defensive counterparts in what Jones calls “double barrel.”

That’s a lot of repetitions, but nothing that Collaros hasn’t seen before.

“I’ve probably had as many reps because usually I had all the reps,” said the former Tiger-Cats starter. “It was a little different in that respect, going through four quarterbacks like (the Roughriders did), but I don’t think I’ve ever — since college at least — had that many plays run.

“The quarterbacks probably got a quarter of what the rest of the team got, so I really feel for those guys who are running a lot. I can’t imagine how many miles the receivers and defensive backs put on themselves this training camp.”

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The Roughriders plan to dress all but one of the international tailbacks currently on their roster for the game. Only Marcus Thigpen will get the day off.

That means Zac Stacy, Tre Mason, David Cobb and Storm Johnson are expected to suit up as they look to win jobs.

Stacy has been with the Roughriders since camp opened, but Mason arrived May 30, Cobb was signed Monday and Johnson was added Wednesday.

“It’s one of those deals where they just somehow became available,” Jones said when asked about adding running backs late in the going. “They’re people who we’ve been evaluating for a long time.

“When you’ve got two 30-something-year-old running backs (in Thigpen and Jerome Messam), you’d better know who the next one is. That’s just the reality of pro football.”

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The Roughriders will be missing a number of veteran players due to injury Friday.

Receivers Rob Bagg and Chad Owens, offensive linemen Dariusz Bladek and Josiah St. John and linebackers Brandyn Bartlett and Kevin Francis are among the vets who won’t face Calgary.

Jones is hopeful the list of injured players doesn’t grow as a result of the game.

“You want to try to get your evaluations done and you want to make sure that you’ve got your guys in shape and those types of things,” Jones said. “But it takes one play, similar to Ottawa and Winnipeg, and all of a sudden the outlook changes a little bit and you’ve got to start going, ‘Uh-oh.’

“Certainly we hope to come out of the game unscathed and ready to go against Toronto (on June 15).”

The Ottawa Redblacks got a scare in their first pre-season game when No. 1 quarterback Trevor Harris suffered a leg injury. He’s expected to be ready for Ottawa’s regular-season opener.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are in a different situation, though. Starter Matt Nichols injured a knee during practice Wednesday and is expected to miss four to six weeks.

Winnipeg doesn’t have an established backup quarterback, but Jones said Thursday that he hasn’t received a call from the Bombers about the availability of a quarterback.