By Jamie Nye

Saskatchewan Roughriders defence a let down

Jul 13, 2011 | 7:22 AM

For the second week in a row, Saskatchewan Roughriders' Richie Hall faced the microphones to explain why his defence has given up 81 points in the first two games of the season. Hall wasn't about to dodge any of the questions, either.

It was clear that the defensive coordinator isn't going to try to sugar coat something that is clearly a major problem.

“We're not taking care of the fundamentals, that's probably the biggest thing. We've given up eight touchdown passes and half of them were busted coverages so when you bust coverages, the scoreboard is going to be lit up and you're putting yourself behind the eight ball.”

Secondary in state of flux

Hall quite often referenced some secondary let downs against the Montreal Alouettes believing they are now the unit who needs to improve after the defensive line has stepped it up a notch after all the heat they received after their Week One loss to Edmonton.

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“I thought the front seven played well enough o win us the ball game. We didn't hold up our end of the bargain in the backend because we didn't have very good coverage,” said Hall, who doubles as the team's secondary coach.

The team had rookie Craig Butler at safety against Montreal, as well as halfback Chris McKenzie and corner Tad Kornegay playing for the first time all season. Hall is now considering if more changes are necessary or whether they stay the course and have the players gel.

“It's not about musical chairs or anything like that but there is a sense of urgency where, hey, we have to play better.”

The good news for the Roughriders is all-star James Patrick should be back at safety for this Saturday's game against Hamilton.

Big play defence

The other thing the Roughriders defence has been susceptible to is the big play. The Roughriders have given up 11 passing plays for 20-yards or more, including eight against the Alouettes in last week's 39-25 loss.

“Big plays change the momentum in the game and it gets the (opposition) offense rolling and you have to make them earn it,” explained linebacker Barrin Simpson after Tuesday's practice.

Simpson is with his coach, explaining that a lot of the big plays have come do to an alignment or an assignment problem. Those problems are something both the coach and one of the defensive leaders believe can easily be taken care of.

One thing Simpson isn't saying is a problem is the adjustment to a new coordinator, “We're still doing a lot of the same coverages as we did last year, a little different terminology, but the execution has to be the same. At half time (against Montreal) we were executing pretty good but it has to be for 60 minutes.”

News and Notes

Running back/return man Hugh Charles was back on the practice field after missing the game versus Montreal. Receiver Chris Getzlaf and defensive back Lance Frazier were held out of Tuesday's workout with leg injuries, while Getzlaf is a question mark right now for the game in Hamilton. Frazier is expected to be back at practice on Wednesday.

news@panow.com