Big catches, picks and kicks during Riders scrimmage

The Saskatchewan Roughriders moved to Saskatoon Minor Football (SMF) Field on Saturday to wrap up week one of training camp.

After spending all week at Griffiths Stadium at the University of Saskatchewan, the team welcomed fans at SMF Field for the annual Green and White Day, which gets fans interacting with players, while also serving as the team’s first scrimmage of the young season.

Head coach Craig Dickenson said Saturday’s objective was simple.

“We want to see guys tired,” he said following the two-hour practice on a gloomy and cold day.

“We want to see tongues out, taking knees, starting to realize how fast the transition is from offence to kicking game to defence, so that was the goal.”

Mission accomplished, coach.

The day featured big catches, big picks and big kicks during a high-tempo practice that kept fans and the referees alert.

Two players getting extra attention was receiver K.D. Cannon and quarterback Cody Fajardo.

“That’s the one guy I thought stood out with the quarterbacks. He seemed to move the team well,” Dickenson said.

Fajardo is thought to be in a three-way battle with David Watford and Isaac Harker for the backup quarterback job behind Zach Collaros.

Cannon was seen far down field with defensive backs trailing behind him for most of practice before he caught a 77-yard toss from Watford.

“K.D.’s got a lot of speed, he’s a tough matchup, so any time he gets single coverage, you’re going to see quarterbacks go to him,” Dickenson said.

Most of the practice favoured the offence. Defenders were instructed not to land any hits and stay far away from any quarterbacks, but that didn’t stop them from producing a few big plays of their own.

The plays themselves weren’t all that surprising, but the players who produced them turned a few heads.

First it was Saskatoon Hilltops’ Colton Holmes jumping all over a Watford pass for an interception. Then, in the final play of the scrimmage, it was international import Javier Garcia from Mexico intercepting a ball and taking it all the way back for a touchdown as he was swarmed by teammates.

“Did you see how the defence reacted? They loved it,” Dickenson said.

“There’s been a lot of questions about how the junior players, territorial players and the global players are fitting in. I think that was proof that they are fitting in just fine.”

As far as any big takeaways after the first scrimmage of the season, Dickenson was just happy to keep the medical team rested.

“I’m happy nobody got hurt. It looked like everyone was healthy and everyone we started with, we finished with.”

The Roughriders resume training camp at Griffiths Stadium on Monday to begin preparing for the team’s first preseason game in Calgary on Friday.