Outwardly, Loucheiz Purifoy is playing down his first game this season against the Ottawa Redblacks.
Inwardly … well, the jury is still out.
The CFL’s Redblacks released the defensive back on Aug. 6 after he had played seven regular-season games with them in 2018. Two days later, Purifoy signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders — who just happen to face the Redblacks at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday (7:30 p.m., CKRM, TSN).
“They’re just another team,” Purifoy said. “I was there for seven games, but it’s just another team. I’m on a great team now. I’m not even thinking about them, I’m thinking about us.”
After the Redblacks released Purifoy, members of the team’s front office said the 25-year-old product of Cantonment, Fla., wasn’t a good fit in Ottawa. Purifoy subsequently admitted he and Redblacks defensive co-ordinator Noel Thorpe didn’t see eye to eye, so the DB accepted his release as part of the business of pro football.
That said …
“You can believe I told them they’d see me again,” Purifoy said. “It’s cool, though. I’m just excited to play.
“My play speaks for itself. Even when I was over there, it spoke for itself. They said I didn’t fit their team; I fit this team perfectly and that’s fine with me.”
The 5-foot-11, 190-pounder has played well in his four games with the Roughriders, recording 12 defensive tackles, two special-teams stops, two interceptions and a fumble return. He had eight tackles and both of his picks in last Saturday’s 32-27 victory over the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones said Purifoy plays with “a reckless abandon” that meshes well with Saskatchewan’s defensive scheme. He also has fit in with his fellow defenders.
“He’s one of those interesting personalities,” Jones said. “He’s a very volatile player. He loves the contact, he loves the aggressiveness and he’s reminiscent of the Brandon Browners and D.A.’s (Dwight Anderson) and guys we’ve had in the past.
“He’s got that dynamic personality and big personality,” the head coach added, “and he’s ultra-competitive, which is what I like.”
Despite playing in only four games with Saskatchewan, Purifoy is already tied for 14th on the team in defensive plays (a combination of tackles, special-teams tackles, sacks, forced fumbles, interceptions, knockdowns, fumble recoveries and tackles for losses).
“I’m just trying to fit in,” he said. “They had a great team before I got here. I just added a piece to the puzzle. I’m that piece that can do it all.”
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Derrick Moncrief is slated to make his return to the Roughriders’ lineup Saturday.
The strong-side linebacker missed the past six games with a shoulder injury he suffered during Saskatchewan’s 31-20 victory over the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats on July 19.
On Friday, Moncrief said he feels like he’s preparing for the first game of his career again, but he’s ready to rejoin his teammates.
“As a competitor, (watching has been) very difficult, especially in crunch time like second down and things like that,” he said. “It was difficult, but as a student of the game, I learned so much just by watching. When I get back on the field, I can feel like I’ve been there.”
Moncrief wasn’t just concentrating on his rehabilitation during his time away. On Aug. 10, he got engaged; he and his fiancé Porcha are to be married on May 11.
Since Moncrief got hurt, his betrothed has been a big help.
“(She was) very encouraging all the time; I love her for that,” he said. “As athletes, if we get hurt or miss any time, we’re going to complain a little bit. We’ve got to talk to somebody, so (Porcha) is my shoulder to lean on.”
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The Roughriders took the unusual step Thursday of pumping in crowd noise during practice, even though they’re playing 
at home Saturday.
Fans at Mosaic Stadium can sometimes get loud when Saskatchewan’s offence is on the field, which isn’t the way that’s supposed to work.
“The fans are excited,” quarterback Zach Collaros said Friday. “It’s not too bad for the offence. But while you’re at home and while on offence, you want to be able to use your cadence for a weapon. It’s important that our fans know the situation; they’ve done a great job of that.”
Roughriders defensive tackle Zack Evans didn’t mind the noise during practice — simply because he hears it all the time during games.
“It’s always loud as hell on defence because you want to screw up the offence, so I’m kind of used to it by now,” he said. “There’s not much talking that needs to be done. As a veteran group on the D-line and even our linebackers, we know what we need to do and we’re all confident in each other’s abilities.”
•••
The Roughriders added an interesting prospect to the practice roster Friday.
Joel Lanning is a 6-foot-2, 230-pound product of Ankeny, Iowa, who played 35 collegiate games at Iowa State University.
The first 22 of those games were at quarterback, where he completed 206 of 362 pass attempts for 2,537 yards with 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions and rushed 215 times for 848 yards with 15 TDs.
The final 13 games of his college career featured him primarily as a linebacker. He had some stats as a Wildcat quarterback (3-for-4 passing for 47 yards with one TD as well as 40 carries for 135 yards and two majors), but he added 51 solo tackles, 63 assists, 11 tackles for losses, six sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery as the Cyclones’ middle linebacker.
He was named a first-team All-Big 12 performer and a first-team All-American last season.
Lanning signed as an undrafted free agent with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys in April, but was released on Sept. 1.
