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Josh Woods gets to have some bragging rights, but the Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker is hoping it doesn’t last much longer.
Heading into the team’s Week 6 game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Woods is the only player on the team with an interception, despite opportunities being there for his defensive teammates.
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“I’m just trying to encourage them. It shouldn’t be me first — I shouldn’t be leading us in picks. We have so many playmakers too, so I think when they start to get some, it’s going to be a storm of them and I can’t wait,” Woods said.
Defensive back Marcus Sayles admitted it does provide some motivation for the group.
“He can’t be the only one with one. Once we get one, they are going to start coming, so they are on the way,” Sayles said.
The one interception for the Riders as a unit is tied for the fewest in the CFL with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. But turnovers on the whole have been hard to come by. They have one forced fumble (tied for second-fewest) and one turnover on downs. The three total turnovers recorded are the fewest in the CFL.
The takeaways this season are a far cry from the success the team experienced in 2025. Last season, the Riders finished with 24 interceptions (second-most in the CFL), 15 forced fumbles (also second-most) and their 41 total turnovers were third-most in the entire CFL.
“It’s just making plays on the ball. We just haven’t been touching it and that’s an all-12 kind of thing,” said Riders head coach Corey Mace. “Your front-end is tied to your back-end. I don’t think we have been playing terrible defence, it’s just waiting on our opportunities, but sometimes you have to go force them.”
“It’s not so much just the interceptions; we’ve had a multitude of plays where somebody on the other team is carrying the ball and we can certainly do a better job trying to remove the ball from the ball carrier as well and forcing fumbles,” Mace stated.
“Just constantly looking at things and how we can get better, but certainly the turnover department is one of them.”
Saskatchewan may get a chance to improve on those numbers in Sunday’s game, as the Ti-Cats will be without all-star quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. The pivot suffered a serious ankle injury in their last game against Winnipeg, possibly ending his 2026 season.
In his place, former Riders quarterback Jake Dolegala will get the start. Dolegala was with the Riders from 2022-23 before bouncing around the CFL with stints with the B.C. Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2024 and has been with Hamilton since 2025.
Woods spent a lot of the 2024 season with Dolegala in B.C. before the quarterback was released in August.
“Good guy. He brings good energy. He’s a tall quarterback so he can see over the (offensive and defensive) line. He has a strong arm, can whip it. It will be exciting to play him,” Woods said.
The Riders will have running back A.J. Ouellette back for the showdown. He has missed the past two games due to an ankle injury.
Kickoff for the game is set for 5 p.m. on Sunday at Mosaic Stadium. The Green Zone pregame show begins at 3 p.m.
