Antonio Pipkin’s first pass as a Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback was, well, a boarding pass.
But now that he has arrived, safe and sound and smiling, the personable pivot is excited to get down to business with his new CFL team.
“It has been phenomenal,” Pipkin said of his introduction to life in Saskatchewan, “other than the long travel, because there are no direct flights from the States.
“It’s incredible. The facilities are phenomenal. The coaching staff is very welcoming. The locker room is very welcoming.
“I have no complaints. If I went searching for one, I still couldn’t find one.”
The Roughriders went searching for an experienced quarterback after injuries led to a depletion of personnel at an all-important position.
Franchise quarterback Trevor Harris — a high-priority free-agent signing on Feb. 14 — has been sidelined since July 15, when he suffered a serious knee injury against the visiting Calgary Stampeders.
Mason Fine was the Roughriders’ starting signal-caller for the next four games before injuring a hamstring during Friday’s second quarter against the host Montreal Alouettes.
Jake Dolegala finished that game, with Shea Patterson next in line. Patterson, however, has been nursing a knee injury.
Hence the acquisition of the 28-year-old Pipkin, who on Sunday was obtained from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for Global punter Kaare Vedvik.
Having reached the midpoint of the season, the Roughriders are poised to designate a third starter — Dolegala — for this coming Sunday’s game against the B.C. Lions (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
Presuming that Pipkin is activated, he will become the fifth quarterback to wear a Roughriders uniform during the 2023 campaign.
“It’s a challenge, just because the quarterbacks take time to develop rhythm and that’s something you just can’t simulate,” Head Coach Craig Dickenson said after Wednesday’s practice.
“We’re hoping to get as much rhythm as possible with Jake and with Shea, but that’s something that just comes with time.
“The offence, in essence, is the same, so the guys know the offence. It’s just the chemistry with the receivers.”
And, in many cases, a matter of milliseconds or millimetres when it comes to a play being successful.
Early in the Montreal game, for example, Fine and Jerreth Sterns came tantalizingly close to connecting for a 45-yard major. The play unfolded as drawn up — Sterns got behind a defender after running a stop-and-go pattern — but Reggie Stubblefield was able to make up some ground and register a pass knockdown.
“It’s things like that,” Offensive Co-ordinator Kelly Jeffrey said. “We just want to lead (the receiver) more to the middle of the field instead of down the field and, when you talk about execution, there’s a lot of that.
“We had a couple of second-and-fives where we either had a throw not go well or a wrong route. Those type of things, we’ve got to fix.
“We feel like if we execute better, the whole playbook’s there for us.”
And for Dolegala, who factored into the design of Jeffrey’s scheme after he assumed the reins of the offence back in December.
“When I started putting pen to paper with this offence, there was no Trevor Harris in the picture,” Jeffrey noted. “I was thinking of Mason and Jake and how we could best accentuate what they do well.
“From that standpoint, some of this is already set up for (Dolegala). It has been the same offence since training camp so, mentally, he has a real good feel for it. It’s just that the live game action hits a little bit different the first time it’s real.”
Dickenson has yet to definitively declare that Dolegala will get the nod on Sunday. If that does come to fruition, he will start a CFL game for the second time.
On July 24 of last year, he was quickly elevated to a front-line role during a COVID-19 outbreak that ravaged the Roughriders’ roster leading up to a home game against the Toronto Argonauts.
The circumstances aren’t nearly as chaotic as Sunday’s game approaches.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Dolegala said. “I think the fans are going to be ready to go. It’s a huge game for us, obviously, because B.C. is on top of the West right now, so we’ve got to come out and have a great game.”
KIAN’S CLOSER
Receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker, who underwent hip surgery during the off-season, practised without hindrance on Wednesday.
“He’s practising, so we’ll see how he does and how he looks by the end of the week,” Dickenson said.
Schaffer-Baker led the Roughriders in catches (68) and receiving yards (960) last season en route to being named the team’s Most Outstanding Canadian.
Always upbeat, the 25-year-old receiver is especially excited about the prospect of returning to the lineup in short order after an intensive rehabilitation regimen.
“It has been a long time and a lot of work,” he said. “It’s something you’ve just got to be diligent with. Just taking it day by day, that’s the biggest thing.
“People like to look far ahead in the future and that’s not even promised, so I’ve just taken it one step at a time throughout the whole process.”
One of the tougher steps has involved watching everyone else play and practise and prepare.
“That’s the hardest thing every day,” Schaffer-Baker said. “The relentless mindset that you have just has you itching every single day to get back out there.
“I’m even out here on the side, working by myself, just eager to get back. Now that it’s finally coming to fruition, I’m back out here working with my brothers.”
