Roughriders’ defence looking to bounce back, force turnovers

The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defence is looking to leave Week 2 in the rear-view mirror.

The CFL team gave up 44 points in a 44-41 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks on June 20. In 2018, the Riders’ defence gave up 40 points only once — a Week 2, 40-17 loss to Ottawa.

“Those type of games happen; it’s inevitable throughout a long season,” Roughriders defensive co-ordinator Jason Shivers said following Friday’s practice at Mosaic Stadium. “I think it was good for us to refocus and relearn and take our level of execution to a higher level.”

Veteran defensive back Ed Gainey said the defence can’t dwell too much on what happened in Week 2.

“We might come in and make our corrections on the first day (of practice) but after that we’re just moving forward,” Gainey said. “Anytime we have a day like that, we want to remember it and remember how it feels but we want to continue to move forward and focus on an opponent that we have next week.”

The Roughriders’ defence lost some key pieces during the off-season, including defensive end Willie Jefferson and linebacker Sam Eguavoen, but filled those holes with signings like defensive lineman Micah Johnson and linebacker Solomon Elimimian.

Elimimian has been dealing with an injury and practised for the first time Thursday. Head coach Craig Dickenson hasn’t said if Elimimian will play for the first time on Monday against the Toronto Argonauts in the Roughriders’ home opener.

Johnson, who recorded 14 sacks last season, was one of the marquee free-agent signings from this off-season.

While he has yet to reach the quarterback this season, Johnson isn’t worried about those stats this early in the campaign.

“(Sacks) come in bunches. There was like a seven- or eight-game stretch last year where I didn’t have a sack,” said Johnson, who previously played for the Calgary Stampeders.

“I just feel like if a double team slides my way, it’s going to free things up for other guys, but I just need to keep working. I’m not focused on the sack numbers but just my impact on the game, just trying to be someone that creates havoc for the offence.”

The team will get a chance to get back on track and possibly force some turnovers as it welcomes an Argonauts team that lost its opening game of the season 64-14 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. In the loss, the Argonauts’ offence turned over the ball three times.

In 2018, the Roughriders had a league-leading 21 interceptions and recovered 15 fumbles.

While the Roughriders haven’t forced a turnover in two games in 2019, Shivers is confident that will be changing shortly.

“We know that (turnovers) come in bunches,” Shivers said. “With the group that we have and the ballhawks and the guys up front who are getting after the passer, eventually it will come. We will catch that ball and we will do some magical things with it.”

Gainey is one of the defence’s top playmakers when it comes to forcing turnovers. In his eight-season CFL career, Gainey has picked off opposing quarterbacks 18 times.

“We would like to have more turnovers right now,” Gainey said. “We’ve just got to keep chipping away and take it a play at a time.

“When things aren’t going your way, you pretty much have to erase that last play and move on to the next. We just have to stay locked in and stay positive and continue to finish through all four quarters.”

Dickenson said the team is putting a lot of emphasis on causing turnovers.

“We’ve put a lot of emphasis on creating turnovers and taking care of the ball,” Dickenson said. “Sometimes the opportunities are there and sometimes they’re not. I felt like we had some opportunities in our last game (against Ottawa) but we just weren’t quite at the right spot.”

Johnson said the defensive line can do its part when it comes to forcing turnovers by getting in the throwing lanes and giving the talented defensive backfield a chance to shine.

“We don’t want to have the quarterback sitting in there too long and leaving our boys on the islands and vice versa,” Johnson said.

For the third week in a row, the Roughriders will need to deal with a quarterback who can cause damage with his legs, as James Franklin comes to town.

“We want to keep the pocket intact and keep (Franklin) in the pocket and make him be a quarterback where we know where he’s at,” Shivers said.

Franklin finished the game against Hamilton with 211 yards passing and an interception after completing 16 of 26 passes.

Kickoff for Monday’s game is set for 5 p.m. The Green Zone pre-game show begins at 3 p.m.