Roughriders to meet old friends in Ottawa

When he lines up on the offensive line in Ottawa Thursday night, Thaddeus Coleman will have familiar faces staring back at him.

The Roughriders right tackle will square off against not one, but two former teammates on the Redblacks defensive line: Jonathan Newsome and A.C. Leonard.

Newsome was released by the Roughriders suddenly last July and signed with the RedBlacks days after. Leonard, on the other hand, signed with the Redblacks during free agency.

Coleman said having previously lined up against both defensive ends makes his job a little easier.

“Guys that you practice against often, you pretty much know their moves,” he said.

“You don’t have to watch that much film on them. You know their tendencies and what they’re pretty much going to do against you.”

Coleman noted the familiarity goes both ways, adding “they know the same, how I set.”

The offensive lineman said he expects it’ll be fun to also go a little harder on his former team mates, now that they’re not in practice.

“You always battle in practice but you always say, ‘Oh if it was a real game, I would have done this blah, blah, blah.’ But I’m going to let you make it because its practice and you’re my teammate,’ Coleman said.

“It’s going to be a nice little battle.”

Thursday’s game also marks the first time Zack Evans will play against his former team.

The defensive tackle was scooped up by the Roughriders in free agency, returning him to his hometown of Regina and the team with which he began his career.

Evans ended up in Ottawa after being selected by the Redblacks in the CFL expansion draft. He spent four seasons there and won the Grey Cup in 2016.

Game time is 5:30 p.m. at T.D. Place. The Green Zone pregame show begins at 3 p.m.

#Riders depth chart versus Ottawa…

Radford and Marshall out (both on the six-game).

Awachie and Maggitt in.

Shaq Evans gets the start in Duron Carter's receiver spot. pic.twitter.com/1mvcGoaFsq

— Arielle Zerr (@arielle_zerr) June 20, 2018