At Least the Rider Practices are Interesting

After a bye week where nothing happened in Riderville except for Michael Carter and Geoff Tisdale being released by the Riders, the first practice on Tuesday provided plenty of action.

Running Anthony Allen got told by either defensive line coach Mike Sinclair or some DBs that he should talk only when he got on the roster during practice, Allen had to be restrained. When the Riders had their mid-field huddle to set the tone for the practice, Allen bounced his helmet on the turf and was escorted to the dressing room by special teams coach Bob Dyce.

Those of us in the stands wandered what the heck was said to set Allen off like that, and the roster comment definitely did it. On the one hand, some were happy to see some players showing passion, on the other, you had to wonder about a defensive coach who talks like that to players and players who respond like Allen did. It was a perfect mess and summed the Riders up perfectly, heading into the Saturday game against Calgary.

The Riders not cleaning house is, in hindsight, understandable considering it would cost about $1.5 million to get rid of Cory Chamblin and Brendan Taman would probably cost the same. The problem with making changes is that there are no ideal candidates available at this time of year, and the two coaches that are available, would probably not come over with an interim label because the Riders will likely be looking for a GM.

By letting Chamblin and Taman play out the string, the team executive is giving them the chance to try to get into the playoffs, which is still possible believe it or not, and after this season the pool of candidates gets better. If Chamblin and Taman make it to the playoffs, then they probably deserve another season, but if they fold like a cheap suit, the Riders will likely have to eat $3 million to pay the two of them out since they are signed through 2017.

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What draws guys like me to Rider practices is trying to figure out the mood of a team and evaluating which players are showing enough to justify being in the starting lineup. While the Riders were spirited, seeing how Allen responded to Sinclair made me wonder about the discipline of the team in game situations and how the penalties have hurt the team so far in 2015.

Since this is written after the practice, it’s too early to say what is going to happen. After the practice, Chamblin said there was nothing more to the situation and both Sinclair and Allen were both in the right and wrong.

So while this was an interesting start to the week, there were other things worth noting. Weston Dressler was back in the lineup, but Chris Getzlaf was looking from the sidelines while Alex Carroll took his reps with the first team.

Anthony Miller was taking Allen’s reps at running back and was also returning kicks as well. Keenan McDougall was back at safety with Tyrone Brackenbridge taking reps at linebacker responsible for blitzing.

On the defensive line, Derek Walker was back working out and doing a rotation at defensive tackle with Rory Connop and Tearrius George.  Keith Price was leading the scout team and actually has a good touch on the balls he threw downfield. Blake Simms, the fourth team quarterback got a few reps in and looked OK.

Will the Riders win this week? That may require a whole bunch more than one angry running back.

Montreal is at BC and at first you have to understand that Montreal rarely wins in BC. Montreal is coming off a game it should have won against Edmonton while BC got the living daylights crushed out of it by Hamilton. The bigger news for BC was the loss of linebacker Solomon Eliminian for the season with an Achilles tendon injury. BC has the better record and has a great record when Travis Lulay is quarterbacking at BC place, but Montreal is a better team. Montreal 25, BC 21.

Hamilton goes to Edmonton in a match-up of first place teams and perhaps a Grey Cup preview. Edmonton stumbled to a win in Montreal while Hamilton crushed BC. Edmonton is still without Mike Reilly and Hamilton has scored 11 touchdowns thanks to defense and special teams that is three more than the rest of the CFL combined. Hamilton is injury riddled, but is better than Edmonton – even in Edmonton. Hamilton 24 at 22 Edmonton.

Calgary comes to Regina on Saturday and after the Rider practice today, you have to wonder about this team. The Riders are still in the playoff hunt believe it or not and while I like Brett Smith at quarterback, the offense is not the problem- the defense is. Not sure what MacDougall will do to help, but the Riders need to exploit the Stampeders offensive line and put pressure on Bo Levi Mitchell. The Stamps probably realize this and will try to activate their running game, which may work if the Riders haven’t learned how to tackle yet. The Riders should have beaten Toronto and were set up beautifully for that, but this may be the last game the Riders get outmatched in before they make their playoff run…seriously. Calgary 29 Saskatchewan 22.

Ottawa goes to Toronto and right off, let me say I hate Rogers. I refuse to have anything to do with them because of how they treat the CFL and the Argos in particular. The Blue Jays may bump the Argos for three games if they make the playoffs, and right now I hope the Jays choke.

That being said the Argos are coming off a steady win over Winnipeg while Ottawa got spanked and spanked badly. Ottawa plays better at home so I will go with the Argos 28 Ottawa 22.