By Joel Gasson

Riders working to bring Kerry Joseph back

Oct 7, 2014 | 11:51 AM

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are taking a trip in the way back machine to add some depth to the quarterback position.

Basically out of nowhere on Tuesday during a planned media availability with the team’s vice-president and general manager Brendan Taman, he announced that they were talking to 41-year-old Kerry Joseph.

“Looks like he’s going to probably in be in for the next day or two,” said Taman. “We’ll see where that goes; we’ll be in talks with him over the weekend. That probably could happen here pretty quick.”

Well, that was unexpected.

Obviously, it’s been a struggle at quarterback for the Riders since Darian Durant went down with that torn tendon in his elbow during the Banjo Bowl in Winnipeg a month ago.

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But, bringing in a 41-year-old quarterback who hasn’t played in nearly a year? The question had to be asked, why?

“Anytime you deal with coaches especially you want experience,” said Taman. “We got two good young guys, three actually; you want to maintain the chance to win games. If you don’t have an experienced quarterback, you’re a little bit in trouble when it comes to that.”

Taman claims that the team is still “very happy” with the way Sunseri has played over the last few weeks but they feel that Joseph can bring a little bit more experience to the field and perhaps more so, the locker room.

This move does not come without its risks, as mentioned Joseph hasn’t played in nearly a calendar year. The last time Joseph took to the field in a CFL game was the last game of the regular season last year when the Eskimos faced the Riders at Mosaic Stadium.

“There’s always concerns…heck this isn’t 2007, that’s for sure,” said Taman. “But, the coaches have a lot of faith in doing this and I think my job is to try and do what they want.”

There’s a pretty simple reason why this move was done now instead of later in the year. The salary cap, as with only a few weeks in the regular season it wouldn’t cost the team too much on the books to keep Joseph around, even if he doesn’t see the field.

But there’s a good chance Joseph will at some point.

“That’s all up to the coaches, realistically I think Tino is going to be the guy this week,” said Taman. “Kerry’s not coming in here to be a guy that stands there and holds a clipboard. He’s here for a reason, he’ll get thrown into the mix and see how he does. I think if Tino produces and plays as well as he can, he’ll be the guy.”

Durant update

Before the conversation turned towards Joseph, Taman was also asked about the status of Durant.

“He’s maintaining the course, he’s doing his usual rehab,” said the GM. “He’s probably expected to throw in the next three weeks or so.”

Taman didn’t really have any specifics about what Durant is doing right now, suggesting it’s nothing too interesting at this point.

The team still believes at this point that Durant could be on the roster for the game week 18 in Calgary and perhaps play Week 20 against the Eskimos.

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