The Saskatchewan Roughriders finally brought home another ‘W’ after quite the shaky period for this 2022 CFL Season. The season had started decently enough but for a while there they were certainly on shaky ground.
The 2022 Riders season has been marred with loads and loads of controversy—specifically players being suspended and even fined for actions they took on the field during games. Yes, glaring, and perhaps more than any other instant this season, was the action taken by Garrett Marino in the game against the Ottawa Redblacks…specifically his hit on Jeremiah Masoli, an illegal hit, and the celebration he did after the fact.
Well, for his part Marino does regret what happened on that day. He practiced this week; he also played in the game against the Elks…a game that ended in favor of the Riders 34 to 23, and it was on Tuesday that he took to the microphones set up by the press after said practice:
“I feel bad that I let Rider Nation down and my teammates down by not being out there with my team and it was depressing…I do regret it and I wish it could have gone differently. I feel horrible that Jeremiah got hurt and I just want to move on.”
via Regina Leader-Post
Head Coach for the Riders, Craig Dickenson, also came under fire at the time of the hit for not vocally being opposed or seemingly so, to many of the incidents that occurred, the chorus stating that he was perhaps being a tad too lenient.
This is something that the head coach is aware of, because while speaking about the recent release of offensive tackle, Na’Ty Rodgers, he alluded to many perhaps not believing him when he says that playing by the rules is something that he stresses from day to day.
“That’s something that we’ve been adamant about from the get-go…I know (the media) doesn’t believe me when I say that, but it’s true. We really emphasize playing within the rules, playing clean, and he wasn’t able to do that. We talked to him numerous times and we really tried to bring it home to him…
At some point, if a guy is struggling to play within the rules and isn’t playing well on top of that, you have to make a decision that is the best for the team…We wish him all of the best and we enjoyed having him around. He’s good a dude. We felt that for our team to move forward we had to cut ties with him…
“We talk about how it’s a decision a lot of times to play within the rules…Sometimes it’s technique, but you have to make a conscious decision as a player on pretty much every play to take that shot or not to or to grab that guy or not. Playing within the rules is a decision in a lot of ways and (Rodgers) struggled doing that.”
via Regina Leader-Post
As far as a replacement is concerned, the Riders have that covered as well. Jamal Campbell will be taking over the offensive tackle duties moving forward. He is happy for the opportunity:
“I’m just looking at it as an opportunity…We’re all prepared to step up when our name is called. The only thing that matters is your performance and how you do when you get your name called.”
via Regina Leader-Post (link above)
About current Riders QB, Cody Fajardo, Campbell had this to say:
“He’s my dog and he’s just more of a dog now…He has gotten so much better and he has always been a great teammate. It’s good to witness him going from a different role back 2017 to having the franchise and the organization really believing in him.”
via Regina Leader-Post (link above)
The Riders are set to face the BC Lions yet again this Friday August 19th at 10 PM EST. Here’s the injury report by the Riders, posted on their official Twitter account, heading into this week’s game against the Lions…
*For all your 2022 CFL Season News: CFL News Hub
