Alexandre Chevrier wanted to make a significant impact during the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ final game of the 2018 pre-season.
The rookie linebacker did just that early in the first quarter of Friday’s game at Mosaic Stadium, lowering the boom on Calgary Stampeders punt returner Romar Morris.
“I was hoping to have a hit like that or a big play at the start of the game just to feel great and to know that I can play in the CFL,” Chevrier said after Saskatchewan’s’ 39-12 loss. “I hope it helped me. I gave my all on the field to make this team.”
The Roughriders selected Chevrier in the seventh round (55th overall) of the 2017 CFL draft out of the University of Sherbrooke. The 6-foot-0, 217-pound product of Pointe-Claire, Que., attended training camp in ’17, but opted to return to Sherbrooke for the season.
“Last year, (the Roughriders) offered me (a spot on) the practice roster but I had a fifth year of university so I went back for that and to finish my school,” said Chevrier, 25. “That was important for me.
“Now I don’t have a Plan B. I have another option but, for football, this is my only option — so this is where I want to play.”
Chevrier’s other option is to return home to work for his dad’s excavation company, the only summer job Alexandre has ever had. All things being considered, he’d rather play football.
Chevrier had a team-high two special-teams tackles against the Stampeders. That showing followed a training camp in Saskatoon where he was much more noticeable than he had been in 2017.
For Chevrier, that was a result of having experienced camp once before.
“It wasn’t new for me this year,” he said. “I knew how to prepare for camp. I know the plays I have to do and where I have to go. I know the leaders, so I know where to go if I have questions.
“I feel way better this year. That’s why I’m making more plays.”
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David Watford also was evident on special teams Friday — which is pretty impressive for a quarterback.
Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones is using Watford on the punt coverage team, just as Jones did with quarterback Jordan Lynch when both men were employed by the Edmonton Eskimos.
Having a ball-handler on the punt team can pay dividends if a coach decides to run a fake, but the player also has to have the athleticism needed to cover kicks as well.
Watford wasn’t credited with a special-teams tackle in Friday’s game, but he appeared to make the stop on one punt.
“I had to let (the coaches) know I can do it all,” Watford said. “Jack-of-all-trades, baby.
“I’m cool with that. Whatever Coach Jones wants to put me on, whatever he needs me to do to help the team, I’m with it.”
Watford played quarterback in college, was moved to receiver when he played for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and now is back behind centre. He couldn’t remember the last time he tackled somebody in a game, but suggested he’s up for the challenge.
“I’ve done it all my life; it’s nothing new,” Watford said. “I hit him before he hits me. That’s the biggest thing.”
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Jones was more than a little unhappy with the Roughriders’ offensive line after Friday’s game.
The head coach planned to use quarterbacks Zach Collaros and Brandon Bridge exclusively in the contest, having played Watford and B.J. Daniels in the pre-season opener May 27 in Edmonton.
But Jones changed things up in the third quarter Friday after Collaros got sandwiched between two defenders. Watford and Daniels played the rest of the way because Jones didn’t want to risk his first- and second-stringers behind the O-line.
“I would like to see them stay between themselves and the quarterbacks; that’s what I’d like to do,” Jones said when asked what the linemen have to do better. “(On Friday) we left a little bit to the imagination.”
Calgary was credited with two sacks and five quarterback pressures, but the Roughriders’ pivots absorbed some hard hits — especially the one that prompted Jones to change his plan.
Jones singled out second-year guard Emmanuel Adusei, who was pulled from the game after missing a couple of assignments in the third quarter.
“He’s trying to make our football team and earn a living doing that job,” Jones said. “That’s what you get paid to do and that’s why we’re here. We get paid to play not just football; we get paid to play winning football. When you get our quarterback hit, then your opportunities are limited.”
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The Roughriders were assessed 10 penalties for 139 yards in Friday’s game.
The defence was flagged six times for 109 yards (including four 15-yarders for unnecessary roughness as well as a 44-yard pass-interference call against Duron Carter) and the offence took three penalties for 20 yards. The special teams were penalized once for 10 yards.
The Roughriders also had trouble with flags in their 35-12 loss in Edmonton, where they were penalized 12 times for 98 yards.
On Friday, Jones was asked if his team can clean up its penalty problems before the regular-season opener next Friday against the visiting Toronto Argonauts.
“We sure need to, so we’re going to do everything in our power to try to figure that out,” he replied. “That’s two weeks in a row where the penalties have been a big difference in the game. If we don’t figure it out, we won’t win a game.”
