Jones to 'play by those rules' after Riders' fines

It’s a lesson learned, according to Roughriders general manager and head coach Chris Jones.

The Roughriders were fined another $36,000 last week by the CFL for breaking league rules. The fines date back to the 2016 season. 

Jones said he accepts the CFL decision to fine him for the offences and he’s learned a little along the way.

“Some rules are governed black and white, some of them are grey and always have been grey and I know that ours are black and white now, there’s not going to be any leeway, there’s not going to be any thinking we’re judged the same as everyone else,” he said Friday morning from Mosaic Stadium.

“We’re going to be judged the highest level and that’s what we’re going to hold ourselves to.”

Jones likened the fines to learning how a referee is going to call a game: you might not learn to what level the rules will be enforced until after a game or two.

“Now that I see how they’re calling the game, we’re going to play by those rules,” he said.

The Roughriders were fined several times during the 2016 season, including $60,000 related to practice roster players, which included a loss of $26,000 to the team’s salary cap.

In July, the Riders were fined $15,000 for playing too many international players against B.C. and in August they were tagged $5,000 for staying on the midfield logo for too long at Calgary’s McMahon Stadium.

With last week’s additions, the Riders have been fined $111,500 under Jones’ watch, not including his $5,000 personal fine or the $26,000 lost in the salary cap. 

“I share their disappointment,” Roughriders president Craig Reynolds said last weekend at the opening of the new Rider Store at Mosaic Stadium. “We’ve talked about it internally and we don’t expect this to happen again … we have to turn the page and move forward.”